Chapter Text
*Beep*. *Beep*. *Beep*. *Beep*
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Sigma let out a patient, lengthy groan as he slowly opened his eyelids, catching sight of a soft light amidst all the darkness of his bedroom.
*Beep*.*Beep*.Beep*
First came the blurriness
His pale brows scrunched up as he smothered the influx of light pouring into his crystal grey eyes.
*Beep*.*Beep*.*Beep*
The warmth of the pillow beneath his head would've been enough to keep him grounded to his bed.
*Beep*.*Beep*.*Beep*
But the rancid echo of the alarm was enough to drag him away from his mattress.
*Beep*.Beep.*.Beep*
Sigma extended his arm slowly, taking his time not to anger the pulsating soreness in his joints from sleeping on it and sleeping on a poorly made mattress.
*Bee-*
Sigma retracted his finger tips from his phone screen, aiming for the thin sheets on his mattress.
He grounded his palm and pushed himself up off the bed slowly.
The wool blanket slipped from his shoulders down to his waist as he let out tiny grunts as the soreness from sleep shot throughout his body.
The bed springs creaked beneath him as he shifted his body towards the edge of the bed. He let his feet touch the floor, then felt a tiny shiver rattle his body. It was freezing in this tiny, run-down apartment of his.
He didn't stand up from the bed, not yet, as sleep and groginess clouded his brain.
But eventually, he pushed himself up and stood on his thin, pale, slightly bruised legs. The mattress was tough, and he bought it on a deal. It was as good as its cost, but it was all he could afford.
Unlike all the other scholars in his academy, he didn't come from rich ceo or white-collar parents.
His family was in the agriculture business.
About a year ago, they had so happened to rack up a disastrous amount of debt in a scandal involving some shady groups. They were so far in debt that they had no idea what to do.
Once word got out, it got out fast.
Sigma was ridiculed by his peers and friends throughout his senior year of high school.
For a year, he was the center of all gossip and the main victim of pranks.
During that time, Sigma felt completely alone. He had no one to confide in. And everything only spiraled from there.
But worst of all that year was what his ex did to him.
In front of the entire jock team, not only did he dump Sigma, but he also pushed him into the school's swimming pool, well aware of his inability to swim.
That was a disaster so bad that a police report got filed.
He still dreamed about it at night,
him flapping and swinging his limbs rashly as he fought against the water pulling him down.
The gurgled, choked out pleas for help as they all stood there and laughed.
After that, Sigma hadn't really spoken to anyone in his school. He went in and out of classes just to get his schoolwork done. Hadn't participated in any senior year activities. Just stayed silent in the back of the class.
In those months Sigma spent in isolation, he'd go looking for anyone who'd give him"company" to drown out the loneliness.
It was never anything genuine.
He knew that,
He's always known.
He knew that the way those men had looked at him with adoration and longing had always been fake.
He knew the way they pushed their faces into his neck, taking measured breaths against his shaking skin as if his scent was all it took to keep them grounded, was fake.
He knew the way they took their time slipping layers of clothing off his thin, pale, aching body like he was precious, was fake.
He knew the way they took their time whispering tantalizingly slow, soft, endearing praises in his ears was fake.
He knew the way their tongues tasted his, full of heavy despair and grief, like they wanted to share the taste of what he felt as tears fell down his face was fake.
He knew it was all fake.
But at the time, it was easier to pretend like it wasn't. It was easier to pretend that someone cared.
Didn't matter to him if they were too touchy, older, hurting him, a fling, or paying him.
As long as they were looking at him, he was happy.
.
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It was a Sunday morning—an awfully gloomy one at that. Sigma walked out of his apartment, and the wind brushed through his long, split white and purple hair, twirling the strands like wind chimes.
Sigma glanced up at the painfully gloomy gray sky. The thick clouds obscured the sun without fail.
Sigma grumbled.
*"No good..."* He thought
*Sigh* "It's going to rain today, isn't it?" he whispered to no one in particular. Sigma's lips formed a small pout. His fingertips rose to his chin as he fell deep into his thoughts.*"I'll get soaked if I'm outside at the wrong time."*...*"And right now, I can't afford to catch a cold."*
But...
*"I can't afford to be late."*. Sigma resumed his pace. The walk was a bit disastrous, like always. The area he lived in was full of not-so-nice people. Every time something came up in the news, there was always a scandal traced back to the neighborhood. The rent was insanely cheap because no one wanted to live in an area like this, where cries were heard down alleys, and you'd lose a finger or two if you bumped into the wrong company. There were mostly loan sharks and gang members who hung around the area. But oddly enough, most of them left residents they had no business with alone. The dominant gang around the area actually did a lot to support the community.
"Hey, Sigma!" a warm voice called out.
Sigma turned his head in the direction of the voice. It was the local shopkeeper. He was a man in his 40's, and he was carrying a box of fresh oranges from a truck into the store. Sigma's picked up a few shifts under him for some quick cash.
Sigma greeted him with a cheery tone, "Hello, Mr. Firino." he flashed a pleasant smile afterwards. The shopkeeper gave him a nod and an equally pleasing smile and went back to work.
Sigma continued his walk and bumped into many familiar neighbourhood residents and locals. It was a familiar cycle of exchanging smiles and a few loose words. The neighborhood loved Sigma; even some of the gang members found him nice to have around.
Eventually, Sigma caught the bus towards his campus and stepped on. The ride was nothing out of the ordinary. Despite it taking him half an hour, it was the quickest and cheapest option he had available.
When the bus came up to the front of his campus, he thanked the driver and rushed to the cathedral. When he reached it, he hastily pushed the doors open with both hands, winded from running so fast. Sigma let out a dry huff as he looked up the shiny marbled stairs, draped with a deep red carpet with golden trimming. His eyes fell on the priest, who was in his late 50's and a familiar jock who roamed the halls of his college.
After letting out one more much-needed huff, Sigma made his presence known, "Father Lomon, I'm here." his deep voice echoed through the pure white pillars and walls. Both the priest and the man beside him turned their heads toward him. The priest's saggy, wrinkled face scrunched up as he smiled at sigma's presence; the man next to him, in contrast, had smooth skin, surprisingly not paler than his own, but still pale in its own right. He looked at sigma with heterochromatic eyes, one a glass blue, while the other was a shiny emerald green. He didn't smile as the priest had, but there wasn't a total absence of a smile. His eyes slimmed as he seemed to be looking Sigma over out of curiosity.
*"What is he looking at me like that for?"*-Sigma thought-*"Is there something wrong with my hair?"* he subconsciously reached up to run his fingers through the long purple strand on his chest. Maybe it was to smooth out some imaginary imperfection or blemish, or more of it was to rein in the shaking of his body.
Father Lomon was first to address him with knowing eyes, "Ah, sigma, you're finally here, come in." He held his hand out to encourage the warmth of the invite.
Sigma nodded and stepped on the carpet, taking his time, trying not to draw even more attention to himself with his movement. He stood on the other side of the priest figure, still wary of the other person. *"What kind of person is he?"*-that flashed through Sigma's mind. Sigma gave the man a once-over. He had platinum blonde hair, messily braided over his shoulder, and a scar on his right eye.
The priest abruptly cleared his throat and introduced the two: "Sigma, this is Nikolai, your sponsor; Nikolai, this is your source, Sigma."
Sigma looked up wearily to meet nikolai's gaze.
Nikolai looked back at Sigma, seemingly not bothered the slightest by what was happening, then an enthusiastic smirk replaced that indifference. "Ah, so it's you who's going to be my living juice box from now on," Nikolai giggled and took Sigma's hand.
Sigma's eyes shot up as he was startled by the sudden contact. His heart pulsated at the unwarranted grip of nikolai's larger hand over his smaller. The touch was almost alien.
*"His enthusiasm is creepy...And 'living juice box' is a bit of an absurd thing to say, isn't it?" Sigma let out a not-so-confident chuckle to cover his anxieties. "It's nice to formally meet you, I guess?" he let out another forced chuckle to even out the tension.
Nikolai's smile became knowing; he was well aware of the discomfort he was causing, and he was loving it. That was Nikolai's brand; he was the charismatic second year on the vampire football team. He had a reputation for being eccentric and overzealous, and was likely the most popular kid on campus. The two met on open night when Sigma was first considering attending this academy. Funny enough, Nikolai was strolling around campus for a snack when he saw Sigma looking around like a lost puppy. Nikolai showed him the way around campus while cracking a few not-so-funny jokes. But Sigma was for sure a face he couldn't forget.
"You know I thought we'd never get to talk one-on-one again, but here we are." Nikolai let go of Sigma's hand.
"Yeah,"-Sigma couldn't deny that he had the same expectations-"Same."
"Good to see you two are at least somewhat acquainted", Father Lomon clapped his hands together, clearly pleased. "Should we start the process?"
Both Nikolai and Sigma nodded.
.
.
.
It took a while for the paperwork and documents, since the entire program was risky. The exchange program is only accessible to certain groups: students whose families' income is too low to support the student, and vampires whose need for blood is so dire that they need a definite source. The way the program worked was that, in exchange for blood, at a limit of every 3-4 days, a vampire would provide a human with financial aid up to 2,200-3,500 a month. It was common amongst vampires of the higher class, since money wasn't an issue. The rarer the blood type, the higher the pay due to demand. And oddly enough, Sigma had AB-, which was considered a delicacy in the vampire world.
Due to the risks, stacks of paperwork were needed: medical records, family records, background records; the list went on and on. For humans, a fingerprint was necessary to be entered into a database, and for vampires, a fang and saliva sample was needed. A special camera would take a photo of the vampire and the human. And waivers and more paperwork were filled out. But one thing was clear: if a human in the system dies and it gets traced back to a vampire in the system, they're getting hunted down.
.
.
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It was about noon when the process was over. The process was draining, so much paperwork and so many warnings; Sigma knew the throbbing in his head was going to be a pain soon. But they both put in the work and obtained the documents to finalize it. Sigma had planned to go home and catch up on some studying. He was weighing the options in his mind when a finger from behind nudged his shoulder. His shoulder jerked away from the contact, and Sigma whipped his head around, his long waist-length hair flowing with the startled movement.
Sigma's heart slowed when he realized it was just Nikolai. Nikolai held his hands up as if to assure Sigma it was just him, "Whoa, no need to get so startled like a fawn on me." Nikolai's wide, unbothered smile added to the humiliation.
"Ah-uh yeah, sorry you just startled me"-Then Sigma realized how that might have sounded-"A-And it's not because you're- an uh- vampire-"-*"even though you are scary with your fangs and all but-"*-"You just caught me off guard."*Ha*-*Ha*. Sigma clenched his chest, trying to distract himself from the aching humiliation that was derived from Nikolai's smile falling.
Sigma got worried; he thought Nikolai took offense and began thinking about all the things Nikolai was about to say. He could already hear the vampire saying something like *"You got a problem with vampires?"* or*"You think I'm going to kill you just because I have fangs or something like that, "* but nothing could have prepared him for what came next.
*Ha*
*"He's laughing?*"-Sigma stood there as nikolai's obnoxiously loud, haughty laughter coursed through his mind. Mild bewilderment fell upon him. He didn't say anything funny, did he? Was he laughing at Sigma? Sigma's lips quickly contorted into a frown.
But then Nikolai said, between laughter, "You know you're funny, I like you!" Nikolai's laughter continued as he wiped away a few imaginary tears.
*"Funny?"* Sigma's lips pursed together. He was funny? His eyebrows scrunched up in confusion as a faint blush filled his pale cheeks. "I'm sorry, did you just call me funny?" The astonishment was clear in his voice; the choice of words made his head tilt.
Nikolai kept on laughing; his hands had fallen to his stomach now, "Yeah, you are!"
Sigma didn't know if Nikolai was mocking him or if he genuinely found humor in his response, "Funny? What's so funny about what I said?" Before he could register it nikolai swung an arm over Sigma's shoulder. The weight almost threw sigma off balance, but Nikolai pulled sigma up and closer before he could fall. *"Too close!"*-Sigma thought-*"Does he have any sense of personal space?"*
Nikololai reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his phone. "Let's exchange numbers!"-*"Exchange numbers?*"-Sigma questioned-"Oh, right!"-"We need to stay in contact to easily access each other."
After they exchanged numbers, Sigma was thinking of visiting the old bakery owner's shop to maybe pick up a small job.
But then Nikolai made a sudden request,
"You wanna walk home together?"