Claiming Humanity

By DragonMage

Notes: Okay, I've been obsessed with Anne Rice recently, I totally worship her work and I'm reading ALL her books (But then, reading that much isn't an unusual thing). Neways, I was reading The Queen of the Damned and I was musing on Interview with the Vampire (which is one of my fave of the vampire chronicles) when I came up with this idea!! So, obviously, this is a vampire fic.

Disclaimer: I do not own GW or Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles from which some ideas come from

* -- Mental speech between vampires

Chapter 1

Duo Maxwell wanted to commit suicide. Everything in his life was so screwed up. His parents were getting a divorce, his girlfriend Hilde broke up with him, he was getting kicked off the basketball team for bad grades and getting into too many fights, and to top it all off he had recently found out that he wasn't exactly straight. How fucked up can a guy's life get??

He stared at the asphalt. It was dirty, covered with old pieces of gum turned black after being stepped on by so many people living in San Francisco. Pieces of shattered beer bottles littered the ground along with old flyers of some concert with a bunch of punk rockers on it in black and white print. The old streetlights flicked in and out as he walked with his head bent and his hands shoved into his coat.

What was he going to do with the last couple of minutes in his life? He was going to go to the park, sit down on a bench and pull out that blade he had stolen from his friend, Trowa Barton. Then he was gonna commit suicide right there. No one really came out at night so he was going to be okay. No one was going to bother him and he would die for sure. How many times had he almost committed suicide only to be interrupted? Well, not any more. His parents were too busy trying to take care of the divorce papers to give a damn of where he was.

Kicking at a battered old soda can Duo continued to walk. He looked up when he spotted the first trees that outline the park. He walked through the stone borders of the park and down the cobble stone path. He had had a good childhood until everything screwed on him a few months ago. Well, it didn't matter anymore. He was going to end everything. He wasn't really afraid of death, maybe a little nervous about it. His brother Solo had died a couple of years ago so he knew that death had to happen and he was kinda happy to finally be able to see his brother again.

Pulling out the gold cross Solo had given him when he was about seven years old as a birthday present Duo wondered if death was gonna be easy. He closed his fist over the cross and walked faster.

As he almost reached the playground Duo looked up when he saw something move in the dark. Shit, he didn't think anyone would be out tonight. He continued to walk until he came close enough to see whoever was there.

Three figures moved out of the darkness and into the old light shining over head. Two of them were pretty tall with a smaller one in between them. The tallest had long platinum hair and the palest skin and an almost cruel expression of amusement. He was dressed in a long coat over some weird, old fashion looking clothing underneath. The second tallest had short ginger colored hair and the same pale skin. He had aristocratic features that were calm and almost serene. Then, there was the smallest of the trio. He had long silky black hair tied back in a tight ponytail and the most exotic features. It took a while for Duo to figure out that he was Chinese.

As the men and the boy passed by, Duo couldn't take his eyes off the boy. There was something about him that just pulled Duo in. He stood there for a moment as the three quickly disappeared in the shadows.

Blinking, Duo wondered if what he had seen was an illusion. Then he shook his head and released his cross. He wanted to see that boy again. He turned and headed back home.

~*~

Chang Wufei turned his head just a fraction and caught sight of that American boy with the long braid and the gold cross clutched in his hand. He had been considering suicide only a moment ago. Wufei had heard his thoughts while they were walking towards the American boy and it was fascinating to hear the thoughts of someone who wanted to commit suicide. They had so many problems running through their head as they thought of the reasons of why they were going to end their life.

Duo Maxwell.

Wufei smiled slightly. It had been so easy to pull the name from his head, as it was with every single mortal. They couldn't hide their thoughts from the vampires who seek them.

"Wufei," Treize Khushrenada whispered. Or at least it sounded like a whisper to Wufei. A mortal would have never been able to hear it.

Wufei looked up at his sire and smiled just a bit. No, he wasn't going to play with that mortal. He was just fascinated.

Zechs Merquise smirked and raised an eyebrow at him.

Wufei sighed and looked down at the ground. *Maybe...But he wants to commit suicide. He already wants death,* he told his parents.

Treize gave Wufei an exasperated expression. *Remember what happened to the last mortal you "played" with?*

If Wufei could have blushed, he would have. *Yes, Treize. I do. I'll be careful with this one, I promise. Just let me have a little fun, I never get to have fun.*

*That's what you said the last,* Zechs reminded him. *And now she's half out of her mind. Mortals are fun to play with but you always have to try to keep their minds intact. Remember, they're not like us. We have to take pity on them.*

Wufei nodded reluctantly. He knew. His fathers were always reminding him that he couldn't drive a mortal to insanity the way he did to the last; it wasn't right. But it was always so deliciously fun to see a mortal scream and shriek when they realize what he was. He loved to see the fear and horrid fascination of what he was. There was something exciting about it and he couldn't help but have fun.

*Come, we have to get home before the sun rises,* Treize said patiently as they left the park where they had buried their victims after a night's feed.

~*~

"Where have you been all night?" Helen Maxwell demanded of her son the next morning.

"I had some stuff to think about so I left for a while," Duo mumbled as he sat down at the breakfast table and threw his backpack on the chair beside him.

"You shouldn't have left home without telling me," Helen scolded.

"Like you care what happens to me these days. All it's about is trying to get this divorce settled," Duo snapped. He stood up and grabbed his backpack. "Oh yeah, I'm off the basketball team and Hilde broke up with me. Good-bye, Mom." He then stormed out of the kitchen and headed for the front door.

"Duo!" Helen ran after her son. "Duo! Stop! We need to talk!"

"Go away, Mom," Duo shot back as he left the house and slammed the door behind him. Then he began to jog to school.

"Duo!"

Duo stopped jogging and turned around to see his best friend Quatre Raberba Winner running towards him. The blond was carrying more books than he needed and had a backpack filled with more books. Duo seriously thought his friend worked waay too hard for his own good but Quatre would just say that he could handle it and that everything was okay. Duo thought Quatre's dad pressured him too much to achieve in school.

"Let me help you with those," Duo offered as he took a couple of books off Quatre's heavy load. "Gods, why don't you drop some of these classes? You sure don't need them."

"It's better for college," Quatre huffed as he adjusted to the lighter load.

"I know it is but you don't need to kill yourself to get into college," Duo said, shaking his head.

"It's all right," Quatre said, shrugging. "I'm fine."

"You always say that," Duo sighed as he took in the slight bags underneath his friend's eyes. "Stayed up late to study, again?"

"Of course," Quatre said with a slightly tired smile.

"You're gonna work yourself into an early grave, Quatre," Duo said pointedly.

"Maybe, until then let's concentrate on getting to school early," Quatre said.

Duo nodded in agreement and they sped up their walking.

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Okay, tell me what you all think! I love Anne Rice!