Shadows within darkness

Thank you Rina (Uh, crumbs in his neck, poor guy (never actually thought about the consequences, sry Vinny). I´m glad that Yazoo starts speaking properly now, because it is rather strenuous having him talking weird ^^. And you are right about Yazoo not carrying about the dress. I suppose since it is very different from the ones he wore when he was with his brothers and since it has been quite some time now since he left them, he´s alright with it. Yes, Aeris is up to 'no good', although what happens isn´t really her fault.) for reviewing

and Golden Kitsune for doing such a wonderful job betaing this chapter!

Enjoy a looong chapter!

14

“What?”

An irritated silver head looked up from his book at the smiling maid looking over his shoulders and prodding for his attention. Somehow, he did not like this kind of smile on her face or the impish gleam radiating from her big brown eyes.

Not that he did not like his big sister, it was just somewhat… unsettling. The last time she´d been that giddy, he had found himself in a dress, which hadn´t been that bad, for he had been kind of used to it from before and he had gotten cake. But Vincent had been strange and the boy feared that he´d been angry with him, though he´d been back to his normal self for the rest of the night…

“Nothing,” Aeris chirped, clasping her hands together behind her back and teetering on her feet expectantly.

Rising one thin silver eyebrow, Yazoo waited for her to let the cat out of the bag, because if anything her behaviour certainly meant everything but ‘nothing’.

The queasy feeling in his guts was soon affirmed, as she finally snatched the book out of his hand, and declared in that benignly, but no objection tolerating voice of hers “I think you should go out today!”

Ignoring the unenthusiastic expression of her fosterling, she shooed him out of his cozy, beloved room and and down the stairs, summoning a hand-knitted bonnet from the cupboard in the floor.

“You should wear this, it´s cold outside,” she chatted, putting the hat on the poor boy´s head.

“But…” He didn´t come any further, for she had already wrapped his lithe body in a thick grey coat and moved him out to the snowed street.

“No buts, young man!” she chided sternly, stemming her arms into her hips, as was her wont when she tried to be authorative.

“What am I supposed to do here?” the boy asked, after a sceptic look around the snowy alley.

“Well, find some other children and play of course!”

The horrified look on his youthful face only reassured the maid that it was high time for him to socialise with someone, and even his changing to full manipulative mode, including switching to pleading puppy eyes and pitifully shivering from the ‘cold’, did nothing to spare Yazoo from his misery, as she quickly closed the door in his face (before his attitude could affect her soft spot), shouting a mirtful “Have fun!” through the door.

Glowering at the closed wooden door, the boy swept his wollen scarf over his shoulder and slowly turned towards the alley, mumbling a dry “Great.”

Maybe he could go to the-

“And do not even think about hiding in the book store, I´ll ask Mister Reeve about it later,” came the good naturedly warning through the door, dimming the boy´s mood even further.

This would be one hell of an afternoon, he could just feel it.

XxxXxx

“Hey, what´re you doing?”

Professionally ignoring the youthful voice behind him, Yazoo continued to crouch down in the snow and poke the bleeding bird with a stick, eyeing it with barely concealed boredom as it tried to flinch away from his torture.

“Hey, I´m talking to you!”

“Maybe it´s deaf or so,” a second voice suggested.

“Or blear,” a third boy said, letting his index finger rotate beside his temple and tongue hanging out of the corner of his mouth.

The other two brats laughed, and the second agreed, saying, “Yeah, haven´t seen her here before…”

Yazoo didn´t care enough to correct them, nor even let their words bother him.Whatever they thought, hopefully they would come to the conclusion that he was boring and leave him the hell alone. He had absolutely no ambitions to socialise with the intellectually challenged neighbourhood brats.

“Wait… I think I´ve seen it before… At the church or something. You´re a boy aren´t you?”

Unfortunatly, the runt sounded interested all of a sudden. And there had crept a mean undertone into his childish voice.

“Honestly? He looks like some girl or something…” came the doubtful objection from the brat´s friend.

“Yeah, but it’s a he,” the other announced, sounding self-important. “My mom said that he´s living with that Aeris woman in that house at the end of the street. She also said to not play with him, ´cause the priest said something about the devils spawn or something…”

“Really?”

Yazoo could almost feel the three reverent gazes boring into his back. Maybe the boys would be good runts and listen to their stupid parents and leave. Though it didn´t really bother him, he was busy torturing broken birds and waiting for time to go by, anyway.

“Hey, you! Are you Lucifer´s spawn?”

The snow crunched under their little feet as the three boys came to stand in a half circle behind him.

“Cat got your tongue or something?”

“Hey! If you don´t answer we´ll make you!”

The brats snickered cruelly, glad that they had found a potential victim for their bullying.

Unimpressed, Yazoo continued to poke his bloody stick into the bird´s broken wing.

A little foot connected with his back, making the crouched down youth fall forward, but out of reflex his little hand shot out and caught the weight before his body could fall face first into the snow.

A silver head was turned slowly, and impassive green eyes stared expressionless through long bangs at the kids.

Some pedestrians, mostly servants that took care of their masters businesses, were walking by, not bothering to take notice of the four kids ‘playing’ by the well.
It was getting late and most of them were only concerned to go home, so the street was emptying rapidly.

Feeling uneasy under Yazoo´s stare, the smallest of the party, a blond boy of approximately twelve years shifted and tugged the second oldest, a brown haired runt, whose red nose stuck out over his thick scarf, at the sleeve of his brown coat, mumbling “Let´s go home. He´s no fun.”

The oldest, a fat little boy with small, mean eyes snorted. “You´re just scared. As if that little fairy´s something to be afraid of… I bet he´s just dumb, is all.”

He cast another glance at Yazoo, who had come to return to his former position and had focused his full attention back to his own play without sparing the boys so much as another look, and shrugged, snorting again. “Whatever. It´s getting dark and my mom said to not play with the guy anyway. Says his master´s some suspicious, creepy guy anyways…”

“Yeah, I heard he´s never going to church and has never been seen outside,” the second boy whispered, shuddering.

“Yeah,” the fat brat nodded his head, looking superior. “The worst scum o-”

He didn´t come any farther, as the bloody stick fell to the ground along with one porky little boy, who was pushed on his back with Yazoo straddling on his soft belly.

“What the hell you´re doing?!” The boy had become red in the face, sweating and huffing. The other two were too surprised by the sudden attack to react and just stared at the scene dumbfounded. Everyone else had left the alley, so there was no one around who could have stopped Yazoo, as his white fist connected with the rosy face of his victim with a crushing sound.

Blood was spluttering into the white snow as the boy´s nose broke, followed by a loud squeal, coming from the pig faced boy. Though he was screaming more out of surprise than from pain and instantly started ranting, trying to get away from under his attacker, shrieking in rage

“You friggin´ asshole, you broke my nose! That´ll have legal consequences, my father´s the highest judge- ”

Another punch made him shut up and this time a real scream of pain elicited from the boys throat.

The other two just stood there, contemplating if they should do something and normally they would have come to rescue their friend without a doubt, but the frighteningly expressionless face of the attacker made them frozen to the spot.

Mechanically, the fist fell down on the fat child, until instead of screams only a wet gurgle could be heard. As the soft limbs of their friend started to spastically twitch under the silver haired youth, the remaining two boys started to come out of their lethargic state. Scurrying backwards, the blond stumbled over his own feet and frantically whispered to himself “Oh gods, he´s killing him, he´s really the devil, he´s killing him!”

The other had wet his own pants, a dark yellow spot forming on his crotch, as he suddenly turned around and with a horrified look bolted down the empty street.

The blond stumbled back on his feet, following on hot pursuit and leaving the other two alone.

The pig face looked up at his attacker through swollen eyes, besides the pain only noticing the tiny smirk that graced his attackers face, hovering over him and grabbing with slender fingers for his stick. Then he saw nothing anymore as the next punch did something to his eye and he only screamed in agony.

*

"Yazoo!" Aeris called out into the empty streets, frowning, but a smile on her beautiful features. She had thrown a pink scarf over her maid dress and was searching the alleys for her adopted little brother, inwardly glad, that she had remained hard and insisted on him going out.

Surely he´d made a lot of friends and had forgotten time over their play. Her smile grew a little warmer. Of course, who wouldn´t want to be his friend? He was polite, intelligent, beautiful, patient and so very adorable! She just loved him to bits and she was sure that everyone else would too, after all, who could escape his charm if even her moody master hadn´t been able to do so?

It was amazing what the boy had achieved within three months, she hadn´t accomplished in three years.
That was, luring the ever looming Mister Valentine away from his dark thoughts and grey life and making him look ambitious and interested again.

Surely her house would be full of childreńs laughter and playing kids soon, when Yazoo brought home his friends and-

She was brought back down to earth when she turned around a corner and the breath was caught in her throat at the sight of two horrified boys that bumped into her, senseless with fear. Quick wittedly she grabbed for the youngest, and worried, but also with forced calm tried to get out of him what had made him so scared. Her eyes widened in shock when she heard the boy stammering something about a silver haired demon murdering their friend, and she let go of him, running with shaking feet and hitched breath into the direction the boy was pointing at.

xxxXxxx

Vincent could not remember when the last time had been that he was this furious.

As soon as he had risen from his coffin, a bad feeling had lured in his stomache and it definitely hadn´t come from hunger. Being one who listened to the foreboding feelings that occasionally befell him, he had instantly returned to his house, leaving dinner out. Upon entering, he had found Aeris to be a miserable, weeping mess. She had thrown herself at his chest, clinging to his coat and pleading that he forgave her, and only after half an hour had he been able to get out of her what it was exactly he should grant her absolution for.

Upon hearing that Yazoo had turned a high judge´s offsprings face into slobber, almost killing the boy and effectively taking away his eyesight, Vincent´s face had gone blank and he had unwrapped her fingers from his coat. Leaving her miserably sobbing on the floor, the vampire had wasted no time and hurried to the judge´s home.

The house had been one single chaos and servants as well as the parents had scurried around the bleeding boy on the bed.

Everything had been in such an uproar that no one had even questioned his presence, biding him in and assuming that he was the healer they had called for. This circumstance was a fortunate one and had made things a lot easier, as Vincent with his natural air of authority had banished everyone, including the ranting parents, from the room.

Then he had gone back to the large four poster bed the boy had been placed in. Quiet moans indicated that he was still alive, but at the sight of his broken and destroyed face, even the vampire pressed his lips together for a moment of symphathy.

After he had made sure that the curtains were drawn before the windows, for he did not need an audience to his questionable healing methods, he had opened his wrist and let some droplets fall on the deep wounds, which instantly hissed and merged together again.

The power of his old blood was great, but the damage done was even greater and the boy would never see perfectly clear again. Still, his face had become somewhat human again, leaving just the usual marks of a normal street fight between boys. It had been nothing money could not settle, and after a generous donation and the promise to punish his protegé, the father of the fat boy had not even thought about ‘consequences’ anymore, laughing treacly and escorting the aristocrat to the doors.

From the fat boys memories, Vincent had not been able to detect the possible trigger for Yazoo´s sudden attack, just that it was, by all means, absolutely unjustified and overly brutal.

After altering the families memory to something less drastic, and remembering the names and faces of the big boy´s two friends, the vampire went back home, as he had to pick a bone with Yazoo.

Honestly, Vincent was truly disappointed. After he had more or less ‘adopted’ the boy he´d thought that he could get rid of his violent and devil-may-care attitude. Letting him live in a warm and loving environment should have altered his personality enough.

Or so the vampire had thought.

But obviously Yazoo did not feel like following the script, and Vincent was very inclined to find out why.

And take out the consequences, if necessary.

It seemed, that Aeris had somehow seen the murderous and cold gleam in his inhuman eyes (even deepened by the fact that he hadn´t eaten at all and was therefore looking much paler than usually), because as he was just about to take the stairs, she came rushing at him, throwing herself at his feet and pleading for him to spare Yazoo, for he was only a nescient boy and that it had been her fault for insisting that he made friends.

Something in her selfless, desperate behaviour touched the heart he did not know he had anymore and he stopped at the feet of the stairs. After a moment of contemplating, Vincent crouched down and gently took her by the shoulders, helping his maid up. Big, sorrowful eyes glanced at him from under disheveled brown locks as he put her on shaking legs again, quietly saying

"Please do not worry. I will not take unreasonable measures. But as you will surely agree with me, Yazoo´s behaviour was more than inappropriate and he has to be punished."

Biting her lip, Aeris lowered her head, half-heartedly nodding and clutching her hands together.

Just as Vincent was about to climb the stairs, she reached out for his arm again, passionately saying "Just don´t… take him away from here…"

All the vampire did was mustering her hand on his sleeve, and she withdrew it, as if surprised by her own courage. She had almost never asked for something before, as it was not in her place as a servant to demand something.

Her master´s fathomless face did not tell her if he would take her request into consideration or if he was angry at her boldness. But at least the frightening expression had vanished from his eyes. She couldn´t help herself, but it had reminded her very much of the face Yazoo had made as she had found him continously hitting his victim in the face with calm, calculated force and almost bored movements.

Vincent made his way down the candle lit corridor, his booted feet moving over the wooden panels in absolute silence.

His inhuman ears and senses told him, long before he had entered, that Yazoo was indeed in his room.

The boy stood by the window, looking out into the shadowed garden. The old oaks knotted branches were delineated against the black, star covered sky and the pale moon, but apparently Yazoo did not have eyes for the nights beauty, as he calmly stared into nothingness. His face was the expressionless mask he almost always wore when he was deep in his own world, and the head was tilted in that slight angle that made him look even more lost.

The sudden feeling of two eyes boring into his back brought him back into reality, though, and his head swirled around, glowering at the intruder, but relaxing as he recognized his patron standing behind him with a frosty expression.

They remained silent for a while. Vincent wanted to give the boy a chance to explain himself first, but Yazoo just continued to look at him inertly and like nothing had happened at all. If only the blood on the brim of his white sleeve hadn´t said otherwise.

"Well. What do you have to say to your defence?" The vampire finally inquired, arms folded over his chest and staring down at his student coldly. The temperature in the room dropped at least about ten degrees.

Yazoo slowly turned his head back towards the window, declaring "As far as I am concerned, there is nothing I have to vindicate for."

"Well then I will jog your apparently blurred memory," Vincent remarked, anger flaring up in his eyes again. "You attacked a boy out of the blue, alterated his face into a bloody mess and almost made him blind."

The distant look was still on the boy´s face as he inclined his head, eyes downcast. "It´́s not my fault when he is unable to defend himself."

The vampire shook his head in frustration. They would not get anywhere with this if he did not take drastic measures and make Yazoo understand what his behaviour really meant.
It was not so much the act itself that appalled the cloaked man, but the absence of any emotion in the youth´́s face when he had done it or now as they were talking about it. There was just a total lack of empathy that was so very dangerous. Not even sadistic pleasure had been a motive, that Vincent might not have approved off but at least would have been able to comprehend. But there had just been nothing.

"Hit me."

A silver head snapped around in surprise again. "I… beg your pardon?"

"I said: hit me," the vampire returned unfazed, looking his pupil straight in the eye.

Not knowing what to make out of that, Yazoo observed the man with narrowed eyes. This had to be a joke, right?

"What is it with that reluctance of yours? I just ordered you to hit me, that should not be that much of a problem for you. Hurry, I do not have all night long."

Yazoo´s eyes widened in disbelieve as he realised that Vincent was indeed very serious and his demeanour became hesitant.

"Why… would you order me to do such a thing?"

"As far as I know I am not accountable to you," the vampire returned cooly, expectantly lifting an eyebrow. "I would appreciate it if you could get over with it now."A dangerous edge had crept into Vincent´́s deep voice, leaving no room for objections.

Yazoo stared at him in a mixture of incredulity and sceptic estimation, his hands stiffly held by his side as he made hesitant steps forward towards the heavy presence of the vampire.

Then he stopped, eyes never leaving his master´s as a slightly trembling hand was slowly risen, ready to strike out. Fine sweat had built on his forehead, but otherwise there was no sign of the inner battle Yazoo was fighting showing on his face.

Vincent observed the boy calmly, seemingly impatient, waiting for him to take action, but the hit never came. Before the hand had only half covered the distance between him and the vampire´s face, Yazoo withdrew it, eyes downcast.

"Now, what is it? You can not do it?" The cold mockery of Vincent made his student look up again, his fine brows furrowed.

"Why should I do it anyway?" he hissed, looking truly confused and troubled.

"Why would you not?" Vincent returned, making a step forward and suddenly thrusting his pupil against the wall, one hand at his throat.
"I ordered you to do it, that should be reason enough for you."

Head tilted, his low growl and piercing gaze almost made him look feral, as he breathed into his ear while holding the struggling body in place.

"If you do not do it," the vampire drawled, almost friendly, but still cold "I will kill you."

Yazoo´s eyes widened a fraction before they went icy as well, and he stopped struggling.

"I see we understand each other," Vincent purred, loosening his grip a little. But instead of the anticipated fist, a warm liquid hit his cheek suddenly. Astonished, the cloaked man rose a hand to his handsome face and dug his finger into it, observing the secretion out of the corner of his eyes before his gaze shot back to the glowering young man.

"Ya hav ta be nuts ta thing I´d do dat shit!"

Stonily, Vincent wipped away the spit from his cheek. Then his hand cramped around the boy´s throat again and suddenly Yazoo found himself a few centimeters hovering over the floor, pressed against the wall and breathing becoming hard.

Two unflinching gazes were locked in a silent battle, as the vampire held him up in the air with his lips pressed together tightly, and the other struggling and clutching at the man´s iron fist.

Of course it could all have been ended if Vincent had chosen to just read his pupils mind. But he did not, because he wanted Yazoo to TELL him, to voice it and reflect on it!

"So you choose death then."

The only answer he got was the fierce green eyes narrowing, and the struggling increasing until it slowly became weaker.

Face coming closer to Yazoo´s ear again, the vampire breathed, with his tumb stroking over the boy´s soft skin but without relaxing his grip even one bit, "Breathing becomes harder, does it not? It is painful, hm?"

He didn´t wait for an answer, only his eyes skimmed over the other´s face almost lazily and as if he searched for something. "Why not end it? It will be easy, all you have to do is obey my order and I will forgive you…"

Yazoo only hissed at him, now desperately scratching and clawing at the cruel fingers that were about to kill him. "I ain´t fuckin doin it!"

Frustrated, Vincent pressed him deeper into the wall, hissing back "Why? Why will you not do it? What is holding you back? What distinguishes me from that boy?"

Gasping, and his hold on the man´s fingers becoming weak, the silver haired youth finally seemed to conquer his reluctance as he breathed in resignation, gaze directed towards the floor. "…Family."

Vincent let go of him as if he had been burnt, and Yazoo fell to the floor on all four, holding his abused throat and gasping and coughing for air.

"Family," Vincent echoed carefully as he had fairly collected himself.. His arms rested by his side again and the malice had vanished from his voice. It couldn´t be…?
"What does that mean?"

Yazoo was still to busy regaining his steady breathing to answer and only one single green eye looked up at the stunned man from behind a silver curtain, but it seemed pained.
Crouching down, the vampire gently helped Yazoo into a sitting position with his back leaned against the wall and strode some silver strands out of the boy´s distraught face. "Tell me." And after a second, adding "Please."

"I…" The explanation was interrupted by another cough, and Vincent soothingly stroked over his pupiĺs back, nodding reassuringly at him to continue.

"The runt w-was *cough* saying…things…"

The vampire distantly remembered from the victims memories about the insults he had thrown at Yazoo.

"So you hit him because he insulted you?" Vincent guessed, but the boy shook his head weakly, another hack rocking his light frame, as he spit "I don´t give a damn about what some brat calls me."

Puzzled, the vampire held Yazoo´s shoulder. "But then why-"

His eyes widened as realisation hit him and he slowly said "It could not possibly be because he was talking ill about me?"

Yazoo suddenly seemed to be very interested in the plain flower picture on the opposite wall as he stared straight past the other man.

Sighing, Vinent pinched the bridge of his nose and rose to his feet, silently pacing the room.

"Yazoo… I appreciate your concerns, but they are utterly unneccessary. I can look after myself perfectly well on my own and I certainly do not need you to punch the living daylights out of some boy that was just fooling around."

"Oh yes?" came the sceptic reply, making the vampire turn around and face his protégé again.

"What do you know… You are never around, only hiding in your library. You may not care about people, but people actually care about you. You may not want to be bothered, but if you let it slide and people start talking, actions will follow and before you know it, your house is burning and your sorry, indifferent ass lies dead on the floor," Yazoo concluded, an angry glare directed at his master, as he wiped at his mouth. Then his head fell back against the wall tiredly. "And I will definitely not have that again."

Vincent remained silent for a moment, before he inquired, "Who did you loose like this?"

Eyes wandering back to the tall aristocrate, the boy returned dully "My mother. At the beginning they only talked, calling her a witch and stuff. All she did was snort and say that people needed her medicine and that we should stop whining about it, they wouldn´t do anything. Next fall, after a particularly scanty harvest and many starving, they burnt the house after they had hung her."

He snorted a listless laugh "Loz was so rattled, he actually went inside the damn burning thing and fumbled her from the bar and dragged her with us, believing that she was still alive, because she had said that the village people couldn´t hurt her."

Vincent crept deeper into his collar.

The boy looked exhausted and was still trembling from his assault.
Now, things made sense. But the vampire could not say that he actually felt relieved.

"How about this then," he finally intoned, choosing his words carefully. "From now on you will report to me if you happen to hear any rumors, and I will take care of it."

Yazoo was still very septical and it showed on his face, but eventually he gave a short nod.

"Fine then. Promise me that you will not adopt any drastic actions again.."

The boy squirmed a little under Vincent´́s stern gaze, but then gave in grumpily, and apparently to tired for another fight.

"Very well then," the vampire said, bending over the hunched figure and carrying the slender figure to the bed.

The violet imprints of his fingers on the teens white throat glared at him accusingly, but Vincent ignored it as he lay him on the white sheets, his sirene song already encircling and drawing Yazoo into his dream world.

What was a lot harder to overlook, however, was the blue vain, showing under the pale skin, pulsing with life and exhalating the alluring, promising scent of sweet, hot blood…
Willing his eyes away, the vampire closed Yazoo´s eyes, after he had altered his memories so that they would fit with those of the others involved.

Leaving the bedroom, he searched for his maid to do the same with her and then finally got out into the night for a hunt.

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I have written kind of a side story in which I explain what happened to the boys and their mother, but it doesn´t quite fit into the actual story. If anyone is interested I´ll post it separately, though :)

Well then, I wish everyone a happy advent!