Corrupted

Disclaimer: I own a copy of the game, does that count?

Warning: Stalking, minor swearing, mentions a death but it's not in the actual story.

Recommended listening; Linkin Park, HIM, Night Wish, Mindless Self Indulgence.

(Last chapter Axel's POV)

"I'm going out," I start towards the door, "I'm hungry."

"Have a good meal then."

"I'll be back before sundown."

(Still Axel's POV)

I made my way through the quickly dimming streets of Hollow Bastion, the taste of blood still fresh on my lips. I'd found some bum to feed on, no one would notice his disappearance so no one would come looking for me. I'd heard that there were Shoran in the area from Zexion, I had to be careful. Though that was a while ago now and there hadn't been any sign of the damn things. Still, the last thing I needed was to get caught by one of them. Shoran didn't usually just give up in their hunts.

(Roxas' POV)

I can't sit still; just knowing that the targets are right in my grasp is too much. I need to go after them now, need to get this over with. I know Sora doesn't feel the same; he's never really liked how things are. Sometimes I get jealous of that fact, that he doesn't have the same drive pushing him to oblivion. Father always says that's a bad thing, but I don't know. I have that drive and know what that means. I'll be pushed to always finish the task no matter its danger, driven to go past my limits, to be the victor. I know that will be my end, that's how it is for all those with the drive. It's odd that Sora doesn't have this suicidal push in his mind. We're supposed to be one, to share the same desires and wishes. We're only a few minutes apart, but it might as well have been years.

Glancing over at Sora I see his usual goofy smile on his face. He's always so care free, I've never really understood how he can be. I always think that this hunt will be the one to take that light away from him, but it never is. Sora turns his eyes to meet mine and I feel him brushing against my consciousness. Immediately I look away, I don't want him in my head right now. I don't want to be the reason he changes.

"Roxas," his voice makes me turn back. His eyes are filled with a shadow I'm used to seeing there.

"Don't worry about me Sora," I try to smile even though I know it will look fake, "I'm just a little bored."

"Okay," he turns away and looks out the window once again. We're in the home that the council has given us for this hunt. It's actually pretty nice, well furnished and respectable, much better than our usual accommodations. I'm so used to sleeping on the ground that I can't wait to lay down in the big comfy bed that was provided for us. "Do you think they'll come?" Sora's voice is so soft I almost miss the question.

"Probably," I breathe just as quietly, for some reason it feels like we shouldn't be speaking this out loud, "We can't have them sneaking up on us yet, we'll need to stay alert."

"Yeah," Sora's eyes are fixed on the setting sun, "Don't want anything to go wrong."

(Axel's POV)

When I arrived back at the house I found a very irritated looking Riku. Even though it was mean, I was actually late on purpose, I just love getting Riku all riled up. "You're late," he snapped.

I had to suppress a snicker at that, the little brat thought I cared. "I'm sorry Riku darling," I put on my innocent face, even though I know he doesn't buy it for a second, "I got a little caught up with my meal, and didn't notice the time."

Riku let loose a low growl and I completely lost it, doubling over from the laughing fit that hit me. I guess Riku was in an even fouler mood than I thought as he walked up to me and gave me a rather painful smack on the back of the head. "Hey!" I glared at him and rubbed my head, "That fucking hurt asshole."

"It was supposed to," he shrugged slightly, "Now let's go, I want to see Sora again."

"You're lucky I like you," I grumbled as I started after him, "If I didn't you would be a little burnt crisp right now."

All Riku did was shrug at me, it took all my self control not to light the bastard on fire right then. We fell into a quick pace as we made our way through the near deserted town. Any humans who were out turned and hurried in the opposite direction when they saw us, that brought a smile to my face. The vermin didn't know what we were, but at least they knew to give us the appropriate respect. Riku and I had only been in this town for a few years now, but our reputation was cemented in place with the other inhabitants. They seemed to have been able to connect the sudden increase in disappearances and deaths with our arrival, though they would never be able to prove it.

Darkness had completely fallen by that point, cloaking the town in shadows. This was Riku's domain, I had better not push him. The last thing I want is to end up being attacked from every direction again, being wrapped in darkness is not a pleasant experience even if you don't like the light. The silver haired man held up a hand and glanced over at me, we must be getting close. We melted into the shadows easily enough, it comes natural to our kind. On silent feet we crept forward towards our goal. A large house came into view and Riku held up his hand once again and when he saw he had my attention pointed at the house. It was rather nice, Roxas' family must be well off. It was a soft blue color with a well manicured lawn that swept down to the street. It had a three car garage and there was a Lexis parked in the driveway, it was the same red as my hair. There were several large trees surrounding the home, each positioned near one of the upstairs windows.

I looked over at Riku and nodded towards the house. He seemed to get my message and was consumed by shadows. Moments later he reappeared in one of the trees and after glancing into the window vanished again. He went through each of the trees and I was starting to think he would never find the right room, or that this was the wrong house. In the last tree he seemed to perk up a bit before he vanished from its branches, moments later he reappeared next to me and smiled widely. He grabbed my hand and darkness engulfed us. I felt like I was suffocating, like the shadows were forcing their way down my throat and filling my lungs. In a split second it was over and we were perched in the tree Riku had just vacated.

"Don't worry," Riku's voice was barely audible even for me, "I've cloaked us so they won't see us."

Silently I nodded and turned my attention to the window. My breath caught the moment I took in the sight of the room. Roxas was standing in the middle of the room with a suitcase, his back turned to the window. He was only in a pair of navy blue boxers, the rest of him on display for my greedy eyes. He was surprisingly toned for a boy his age, he must be athletic. That would be nice, I was tired of weak toys that would shatter at even the gentlest of games. The line of his back was flawless, his ivory skin seeming to glow in the light cast from a lamp on a desk. His legs were slim, yet somehow seemed to be sculpted and chiseled. His hands were on his slender waist, his head cocked to the side as he looked at the door.

"SORA!" he suddenly screamed, "HAVE YOU SEEN MY PAJAMAS?" My god, his voice is even beautiful when he yells. I'll make him scream my name, I'll make that voice be only directed at me.

"Maybe," a voice called much more softly. A moment later a brown haired head poked itself around the door frame.

"Well," Roxas said expectantly, "Where were they?"

"If I tell you will you let me sleep in here?" the brunet came around the corner completely. He was dressed in baby blue flannel pajama bottoms with little stars on them and a white t-shirt. I heard Riku take in a sharp breath when the brunet appeared and couldn't help but snicker at that, not that I was much better.

"Sora," Roxas sighed, "I thought we went over this, you have to stay in your own room."

"But I'm scared," the brunet whined, I wanted to hit him for that tone he was directing at my pet, "I don't want to be alone."

"Sora,"

"Please?" the little brat was actually pouting at my angel, how dare he look at my possession like that!

"Fine," Roxas relented, "You can sleep in here. Where are my pajamas?"

"I hid them under your bed!" the brunet chirped sounding strangely like a bird.

I could audibly hear Roxas sigh as he turned around, it was my turn to suck in my breath a little to fast. He was even more beautiful from the front on. His chest was the vision of perfection, his abs pronounced but not in an extreme way. His boxers just barely clung to his hips as he walked and I prayed that they would fall. From the looks of it he was rather endowed, perfect. I fully intended on making him mine completely and I that just meant more fun to be had. I think I started to drool when he stopped at the bed and bent down, his back to the window once again. Riku obviously noticed and let out a snort of laughter.

Roxas suddenly straightened up and turned around with a scowl on his face. "And what would be so funny," he said as he began to pull on the green pajama bottoms that he had retrieved.

"What do you mean?" Sora looked completely confused, it would figure that he was an idiot, Riku liked him after all.

"You just laughed at me," Roxas said as if it was obvious. Riku and I exchanged worried glances.

"No I didn't," Sora stared at his brother blankly, "I thought that was you."

"No," Roxas looked around in confusion, "It wasn't me." The blond walked over to the window and peered out intently. For a moment I thought he was looking directly at me but then I remembered that Riku had cloaked us in shadows. His eyes seemed to linger on us none the less before sweeping out onto the lawn. "There's no one out there," I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, "Must have been the air condition or something."

"Roxy?" Sora plopped down on the bed with absolutely no grace.

"Don't call me that," Roxas muttered.

"Sorry, I forgot," Sora actually seemed to really regret calling the blond Roxy, though I have no idea why, it's just a nickname, "Really Roxas, I didn't mean anything by,"

"I know," the blond cut his brother off. I exchanged a quick look with Riku, both of us seemingly at a loss. "What is it Sora?" Roxas' voice was soft, almost too soft for even my ears to hear.

"Can we just go to bed?" the brunet offered a small smile, "I'm really tired."

"Sure," Roxas climbed onto the bed and pulled the covers over himself, "Will you get the light?"

"Hey!" Sora started up that annoying pout again, "Why do I have to get the light, I'm a guest in this room."

"Yeah, and unwanted guest who hid my pajamas."

"Fine," the brunet crossed the room with his shoulders slumped and clicked off the light, "Happy now?"

"Mhm," the lump in the bed muttered.

I watched as the brunet got a grin that could only be described as devious, it made me feel a little uneasy. The brunet suddenly ran across the room and took a leap through the air to tackle the lump under the covers. I had to suppress a laugh at the face Roxas was making as he tumbled out of his bed onto the floor. I tuned out at that point, there was no reason for me to pay attention to the squabble that ensued. I sat back against the tree trunk and let Roxas' voice wash over me. I had to have that voice, had to hear it only utter for me. This little blond was the perfect toy, but I don't think that would be enough. He was too young to turn right now, no more than 17, but I could keep him for a while. He would be a real pet of mine, I'd make him so dependent on me that he would never leave me.

I was lost in the thought of just how I was going to train him when Riku jabbed me in the side with his elbow. I couldn't stop myself from snarling at the silver haired brat, how dare he do that! Then I remembered that the cloak didn't hide any noises we made and clamped a hand over my mouth.

Riku actually had the nerve to chuckle at me when I did that. "They're asleep," he pointed at the window.

Turning I found that indeed they had fallen into a deep slumber. Riku and I stayed still for a while, just watching the boys sleep. They seemed so peaceful and somehow even purer than when they had been in the plaza. That was odd, considering that they were sprawled out over each other. I perked up a bit when Roxas stirred, but all he did was roll over to face the window. The moonlight seemed to be draped over his form, flowing over every dip and curve that was presented. It made his hair sparkle in a completely different way than the sun had, showing new tones of gold in the silken strands. I wanted to run my hands through that hair so badly, to grip it and pull his face up to mine. I followed his hair to the line of his neck and found that I couldn't rip my eyes away from it. His skin glowed a pale white under the moons rays, enticing me to draw nearer. Even from where I was I could clearly make out his pulse against his neck. It was slow and regular, resting for the day ahead of him. I had to taste the crimson fluid that flowed beneath that skin, had to know what Roxas was like.

"I don't want to play this game," I said softly, my eyes still trained on the blonde's neck, "I think I'll just end it now."

I could feel Riku's eyes on me, knew he was surprised at my words, I would have been if I wasn't so intent on the blonde's pulse. "Are you sure?" he sounded uncertain, "You always say how much you love the chase and mind games before you take them."

"I don't care right now," I stand and walk out on the tree's branch towards the window, "I can't wait for this one. Don't you want your toy? I thought you really liked this one."

"Good point," Riku came out to stand beside me.

My eyes still locked on the sleeping blond, I raise a hand and place it on the glass. Immediately I recoil and Riku lets out a surprised yelp. A strange purple light flickers over the window pane, it's almost like smoke in the way it shifts and swirls. "Shoran," I whisper.

"They're Shoran?" Riku's voice is uncertain, "But don't their barriers alert them when they're disturbed?"

I look past the light at the boys, neither has awoken. As I watch Sora rolls over and falls off the bed with a slight thump, the sound of light snores following him. "It's not them," I say softly.

"Then who," Riku is scanning the surrounding homes suspiciously, "Their parents?"

"No," I shake my head and jump out of the tree, immediately starting to walk away, "If it were their parents they would be Shoran too. It must be the Shoran that Zexion warned us about."

"Then why was this house protected?" Riku had caught up to me at this point.

"It could be that they lived in that house but left," I speak without any real conviction, "The toys said they had just moved here, it's possible that they bought the home from the Shoran who have left. We'll need to speak with Zexion about this one."

(Roxas' POV)

Slowly I open my eyes and gaze at the still shifting barrier. "Are they gone?" a voice whispers from the floor.

"Yes," I say just as softly, "I can hear them about a block away now."

"Do they know?"

"No," I sit up slowly and look down at my brother. Our eyes meet and I feel him brushing against my consciousness carefully. I let him in so he can hear what I'm hearing and he lets out a small sigh.

They don't know it's us yet. Sora's voice echoes through my mind and I nod, making sure not to break eye contact.

We're safe for now, but we're going to have to figure this out. I let my words flow to my brother. We can't just attack them right now.

Sora looked thoughtful for a moment before his usual smile swept over his face. They don't know that we're different yet, we can make them think we're just stupid little humans. All we have to do is act all innocent and accepting and they'll drop their guards.

That would probably work. I break eye contact and gaze back at the window. With a sigh I wave my hand, the light vanishing as if it was never there. I wonder if Sora felt my true feelings. He was never very good at sensing anything I didn't want him to, but there was always the chance that he had. While it sounded simple enough, I don't know if I could pull off an innocent act for too long. Namine always said that I was too hardened for my own good, I probably am. All I can do is hope that they don't see the truth in my eyes. I know that they won't be able to see anything other than purity in Sora, but he is actually innocent, not like me. I won't let him be blemished by the things that have scarred my soul, I'll destroy anything that tries.

Wonderful world of kelle611's imagination, creature tutorial!

So I'm going to give some details about the creatures in my story because some of them aren't like what you find in common folklore.

Balkans, also known as Vampires.

In this story vampires are not affected too harshly by sunlight. Sunlight will only hurt their eyes which are hyper sensitive and very sharp. A vampire can see clearly for a much greater distance than a human can, but not as far as a lycan. Crosses, holy water, garlic, and silver do not affect them. They find such notions laughable and dismiss them readily. They do not like churches, but that is because they have their own religion and have no desire to associate with human religions.

I will be using the word Balkan to describe vampires in this story. I found it on wikipedia when looking up alternative words for vampire. Balkan originates in eastern Europe, though I don't know the exact country it comes from. I'm just going to say that Balkan is the word for vampire in their own language.

If you are bitten by a Balkan you do not automatically turn into one yourself. In order to be turned a Balkan must drink a person nearly dry and then force the victim to drink their blood. By taking in a Balkan's blood a person receives the virus that is in their blood and is able to turn. If a person was not bled near dry before they received the virus then their immune system would block it and the person would die as a result of the conflict between their own body and the virus. A pure blooded Balkan is one that was born as a Balkan, as in both their parents were Balkan. In my world it is possible for Balkan to breed, it's just very difficult and is a very rare occurrence. Because of the difficulty for a Balkan to become pregnant and even greater difficulty of maintaining the pregnancy there are very few pure bloods.

Balkans have certain abilities and powers. Every Balkan shares certain abilities. For instance they all have extraordinary eye sight and hearing, almost 100 times greater than that of a human. Their eye sight and hearing are out done by lycans though. They also have great physical strength that is much greater than a human's. Each Balkan has a specific power that is their alone. This power can be over an element, a mental power, or physical power. Axel obviously controls fire; I really couldn't bring myself to give him any other kind of power. Riku can control shadows and Zexion illusions. Other powers are things like super speed, control over water (guess who has that), mind reading, or telekinesis.

There are only a few ways to kill a Balkan. The easiest is to decapitate them as it is absolutely fool proof. The other ways are to pierce their heart or to overpower them with the opposite of their own unique power. For instance you would have to drown a Balkan with the power of fire, burn a Balkan with power over plants, or completely expose the truth of one who commands illusions. It is very difficult to use that technique to kill a Balkan and is rarely used.

Shoran, the hunters.

I made these up, but for some reason my spell check likes it. Shorans are like hunters, but they're not human. They are their own species completely. Shorans possess powers similar to something you would find in a wizard story. Their magic is based in spells, even though they don't have to say them out loud. They can simply think the spell to make it work. Each Shoran has a twin and their powers are completely dependent on their twin. If their twin dies then they will lose all their powers. There is also a deep bond between Shoran twins, they can communicate telepathically with each other and sense one another's location. It is usually the younger twin who is more powerful and a better fighter.

Shorans are also referred to as hunters because their place in the world has always been to eliminate the creatures of the night. They hunt down Balkans, lycans, and anything else that threatens humans. They do not necessarily kill those they hunt down; it depends on their orders from the council, their ruling body.

Shorans are actually very similar to many creatures of the night, in particular Balkans. Shorans have the same great eyesight and hearing and their powers often mimic a Balkan's. Shorans are particularly similar to pure blooded Balkans.

Lycans or werewolves.

I will be referring to werewolves as lycans in this story; I've always liked the term more. Lycans are the product of a virus similar to that of Balkans. The difference between the lycan and Balkan virus is that the lycan virus does not need the host to be in a weakened state in order for it to be effective. Depending on the person who is bitten they will either die from the virus in a matter of hours or turn into a lycan themselves. If someone dies of the virus then their death is horrifically painful.

Lycans do not only turn into their canine form during the full moon, they can change at will similar to Balkans. On the full moon a lycan's abilities will be heightened, but they are not dependent on it. A lycan has extraordinary hearing and eyesight. They can hear something up to two miles away without any difficulty and can see clearly for almost a full mile. They also have a heightened sense of smell that is more intense than that of a blood hound. They will pick a target and hunt them down relentlessly. The only way to escape a lycan is to kill it.

Lycans are killed in only a few ways. They must either be shot through the heart, though not necessarily with a silver bullet, decapitated, burned, or have their throat slit with a silver knife. While the bullet does not have to be silver the knife must, any thing else will be ineffective.

Unlike Balkans there is no such thing as a pure blooded lycan. While it is possible for lycan to reproduce, their offspring are guaranteed to go insane and are killed at birth. If they are not killed then they will lose their minds at roughly 10 years old and go on a killing rampage. They will not be able to distinguish their own kind from humans or from Balkans. There is no war between Balkans and lycans, nor any real animosity. The two don't willingly associate with one another, but they are not enemies by any means.