a/n: Okay, here's something to keep both you and me occupied. I wrote this about two years ago, following on roughly after How I became a Vampire, but following Marcus as the main character. What can I say? I fell in love with my own "villainous character". The chapters are long, and few, what I have of it so far, so I've decided to split them up into bite sized peices. I hope you don't mind. And I doubt I'll be writing anything new for this story till I'm done with Winter Garden and Finding Mikail. So... I have 6 chapters, round about, each split into 2 or three parts... lets see how far that gets us. At least this way I'll always have something to post :) Let me know what you think. AND SORRY FOR THE CHOPPINESS, I REALLY HAVEN"T EDITED OR FIXED THIS AT ALL. I may do so if you ask nicely though. But only once my holidays are well underway :P

The Colour Red

Chapter 1: Blood and a contract

Part 1

“What’s bitten you?”

Marcus was in his usual bad mood as he stalked around his penthouse apartment. Dale sat reclined on one of the couches, lean body stretched out, arm draped across the back. His hair was tied back, well most of it was. Some of it was still too short and hung loose around his face. His dark blue eyes followed the movements of his cousin pacing.

“You’re going to walk a hole into the carpet. Just tell me what’s wrong so you can get over it.”

Moonlight spilled in through the floor to ceiling windows as the silver haired man continued his pacing. He did not even pause to answer his cousin. His hands clenched into fists at his side and a pulse beat where he clenched and unclenched his jaw.

“You were in a far better mood when you left. Did something go wrong? Did you bump into James? Wasn’t he happy to see you?”

At the mention of the other man’s name Marcus had stopped his pacing to stand dead still. However, with the last question his cousin hardly had the chance to blink before a hand clamped hard around his throat.

“Shut up! Just shut up!”

His grip tightened as Dale laughed around Marcus’s chokehold. So that’s it! He hardly blinked an eye as the hold on his throat tightened until he felt his trachea collapse, the cartilage giving way beneath the pressure, his throat caving in. Satisfied with the damage, but deprived of a satisfactory reaction, Marcus let go of Dale’s throat to glare down at him.

“Never mention that sad excuse for a man’s name in front of me again. Understand?”

Not waiting for an answer he knew he would not be getting from his cocky cousin, he left the room. Clearing his throat as it reassembled itself Dale stretched and too stood up from where he was sitting.

I wonder what happened with ‘dear’ James this time. Poor Marcus is so hung up on the guy. Talk about an ungrateful fledgling. That’s why it’s best not to make one. But Marcus does make some sense sometimes. I do feel a bit parched. Time to find supper.

Putting on a pair of sunglasses, all the while cursing his particular affliction, which made the glasses necessary, he left the apartment and headed out into the night.

XXX

Marcus considered the boy hanging limply in his arms, his eyes glazed and staring at nothing. The boy’s screams had eased the tension that had been steadily building up in his chest after his confrontation with James. In addition, because of his earlier meal, he had not drained this boy too much. His silver hair fell down around his victim’s shoulders and neck, and he had the urge to bend down and rip through the boy’s throat. It looked so soft and inviting. It made his fangs throb expectantly.

Yes, there was just no winning against the monster that he was.

The boy in his arms was basically gasping for breathe, and as Marcus stood there undecided, the boy started trembling and he began blinking rapidly as he regained his senses, as the spell Marcus had cast began to wear off. Grinning wickedly as the boy once more looked up at him in horror, fascination and disbelief Marcus concluded that taking a little more blood would not hurt. Lifting the boy closer, practically picking him up off his feet, he bent his head and licked at the trickling wound that was beginning to heal already.

Unlike that worthless woman, whom he had left bruised and torn as punishment, he was unusually kind for his mood tonight. The boy gave an audible gasp as Marcus once again sank his fangs into his neck and the sound only proved to make Marcus savour the boy even more. Drawing away, Marcus suddenly came to a decision, though an impulsive one. Biting his lip first, so that it bled just a little, he bent and touched his lips briefly to the boy’s throat.

He watched as the blood mingled and felt the boy stiffen slightly. Just that one drop of blood had been potent enough to ensure the boy’s survival, and for a link between the two, between the master and his meal, not enough to turn him though, not a chance, because that was not the idea. Not yet anyway. Returning the boy to where he had found him, Marcus left him with a whispered message before disappearing into the night.

XXX

“Hey! Nicholas! Wake up!”

Having found his friend passed out the night before on the commune stairs Gav had all but dragged Nicholas into the apartment and to his room. It had been lucky that he had gone out at all, but he had left his cell phone in his car, so he had had to go fetch it. Man, I wonder what you had to drink. Didn’t know you had it in you. Shaking his head at the lack of response, he just gave the lump of blankets a poke, giving a satisfied smirk at the resulting groan.

“If you want to have any time at all to get ready for your classes you’ll have to get up now. Next time think wisely before you party hard during the week.”

The lump beneath the duvet just groaned louder in protest and pulled the cover tighter around his head.

“Freaky dream…” he mumbled, the words muffled.

“Yeah, well just say thanks I brought your ass in from the cold. I’m off! See ya later!”

The front door closed behind him as Gav set off to his morning classes. In his room, Nicholas rolled over in bed and stared up at the ceiling. After a while though he picked up his sketchpad, ignoring his protesting body, and the taste in his mouth that urged him to brush his teeth before he did anything else, to draw the face that had haunted his dreams. Flipping through his book, looking for a blank page, he glanced fleetingly at his other finished pictures. People told him they were good, but in his mind no matter how hard he tried, the pictures he drew always made the models look sad and lost. Very realistic, but troubled. Chewing the back of his pencil, he closed his eyes and pictured what he would draw. Even the image itself brought on a sense of foreboding, but suppressing the shiver that ran down his spine he set to work, ignoring the time and the classes he was skipping.

XXX

A few days later, Marcus was still refusing to leave the apartment and Dale was becoming more and more agitated with the tension following the silver haired vampire around like an ominous cloud. Deciding to bite the bullet, Dale thought it was about time he asked Marcus what exactly was bothering him.

“Hey Marcus, you haven’t been out for almost a week now. Your supper won’t come to you, you know.”

Dale looked worriedly at his cousin, though he knew Marcus was often in a bad mood, this time it was different. Normally he would be raving about it by now but he had not mentioned James at all since the last time. Picking his keys up from the table Dale began twirling it round.

“Come on, Marc. Let’s get out of here. I know a good place to meet some people. You can’t just stay here like this . . . Is this about James?”

Marcus sat very still, his continuous twitching ceasing at the mention of that name. Taking a deep breath that he did not really need, he stood and stretched. Walking, no sauntering, over to Dale he made a point of catching his cousin’s eye.

“I’ve told you I never want to here that name again. And Dale, I meant it.”

The cold look in his eyes burnt the message through, surprising Dale with its intensity. Before he even had a chance to respond Marcus was out the door. Shoving the keys that had stilled in his hand into his jeans pocket he decided it was time to pay James a bit of a visit. For a wayward fledgling this was really taking it very far. Marcus had always had an unnatural attachment to the young vampire that Dale could never quite understand. Sure, it was his first and only fledgling, that owed his immortality and loyalty to Marcus, but from the first things had gone wrong. Dale had watched as his childhood friend had fallen deeper and deeper into the darkness that shadowed his heart ever since. How long had this game of hide and seek gone on before this ending had occurred? Too long to count, really. Sighing in temporary defeat, he unfolded his sunglasses, the gesture second nature to him, and putting it on he stepped out the front door.

a/n2: There you go, part 1 of 4 for the first chapter. Hope it wasn't too confusing or disjointed.