Pre-Story Note: I have nothing to say about this...

Warning: blood, sex, and of course minor torture

12th of August, 1839

Daniel had been spending the past three days down in the choir. The haziness no longer bothered him, and neither did the sobs, moans, and wails of the prisoners hanging in their cages. He had a job to do now, and he was going to make sure he did it right this time. He studied the tools, and would mock what needed to be done every now and again. He was so entranced with what he was doing, that Alexander himself had to fetch him away from the stifling rooms in order to eat.

It was interesting, though, watching the younger man. Many times when Alexander would enter the torture rooms, Daniel would not even notice. He would be turning objects over gently in his hands, taking in every scratch and stain, feeling the weight, and thinking. Or he would be sliding a finger over a nail in the iron maiden, examining the point, and closing the doors, seeing how the objects would slide past each other, imaging them piercing the flesh of a human. Alexander loved this, seeing how thorough the other was in his learning. Never had he imagined Daniel would take so well to the rituals that must be done in order to save him.

On this particular day, when Alexander went to call the younger man to supper, he found him running his hand over the horn of the brass bull. The fire was not lit, but the lid was shut tightly. Alexander had come to expect this sort of behavior by now, but what threw him off this time was that Daniel was…whispering to himself. He had never before spoken to himself, and the old man's curiosity peaked. He stepped further into the room, taking care not to alert Daniel to his presence.

"Try and escape from this place, will you? I'll show you just how we treat people like you. You killed her, didn't you? You little…bitch!" he whispered sharply, his pupils narrowing as he laid his hand on the pipe protruding from the bull's mouth.

Something in Alexander felt strange. Perhaps it was because of how demented Daniel looked in that moment. He felt he should lay a hand on the young man's shoulder to snap him out of it; however the two were not exactly in the practice of touching one another. It would be strange, and an explanation was not high on Alexander's list of things to do at the moment.

"Daniel?" Alexander spoke up, causing the younger to jump and turn to face the elderly man, any signs of abnormality gone from his face. "Come, it is time we dine." He said.

The older man gestured for Daniel to go on ahead of him, which he did. In passing, Daniel looked up into the man's eyes, his own showing he was wondering how long the man had been standing there. Alexander did not give him an answer, and merely closed the door behind them as he followed.

"Alexander, when is the next warding ritual to be performed?" Daniel asked as they were making their way upstairs.

"Soon, Daniel."

"I will not fail like the last time."

"I know you won't, Daniel."

~.*.~

15th of August, 1839

The blood wards are failing. The Shadow beckons and its cry disarms my action. Hurry, no time to spare. You have to kill another.

A man, or what used to be a man but was now barely more than flesh and bones, was strapped to the table. He had a cloth tied over his head, so that he could not see, and another in his mouth and tied in order to gag him. He struggled what little he could, whining and crying out as best he could from around the cloth.

Alexander produced a knife, and laid it upon the table beside where Daniel stood. Daniel understood, and took the knife into his own hand, examining the blade. He looked down at the man on the table, and fear washed over his face. Alexander was afraid of this; despite Daniel's preparations, he still was not used to the actual taking of another's life.

"Do it, save yourself. He is a murderer, Daniel. He is evil – a cold blooded killer. Hurry!" Daniel thought, attempting to egg himself onward. He had done this once before, why was he having so much trouble this time? Suddenly he became aware that Alexander was still in the room, and that he was watching intently. Daniel laid his hands on the table and hung his head. "Alexander, you must let me be. I have to concentrate." He said in a demanding tone.

Saddened, Alexander did as he wished and left the room. He did not go far, however. He closed the door, and took a few steps down the hall towards the choir, but stopped short as he heard a voice, Daniel's voice. He could not make out the words, for the man was whispering. Assuming it was Daniel attempting to talk himself into doing what needed to be done, Alexander resumed his walk.

"…Cut the flesh, watch the blood spill, let it come!"

Alexander jerked his hand from the handle of the door and swiftly turned around. He retraced his steps in only three rapid strides and pulled the door open.

The man on the table was writhing in pain, fluorescent green paint had been drawn across his chest and stomach, just as Alexander had taught Daniel to do. Blood tickled down from an open cut that was progressively getting larger as Daniel guided the knife across the painted flesh.

"Please, I didn't do anything!" Daniel spoke in a mocking manner, his eyes becoming wild once more. "Paint the man, cut the lines! Paint the man, cut the lines!" he shouted, tearing through the last expanse of skin that needed to be. "'Please!' the man cries." Daniel grinned, looking down at what he could see of the man's face. His own breathing had become heavy, and he didn't seem to care when he cut his own hand setting the knife back down upon the table. He laid his left palm upon the man's stomach, and stroked his head with the other, effectively wiping his own blood upon him although that did not appear to be Daniel's intent. "Hush, hush – now you sleep." He whispered to the man, almost singing as if it were a lullaby. Slowly the man stopped breathing, and the blood drained from his body. Still Daniel had not moved from that position.

Alexander, who had witnessed this scene, began to fidget. Something was not right with what he had just seen. Or was something not right what how he had taken it? Fighting the awkward atmosphere, he took a step into the room and laid a hand upon Daniel's shoulder.

"I did well!" Daniel spoke, his voice far louder than it needed to be. Alexander leaned down, peering into his eyes. His own eyes widened, he had never seen someone so detached from reality! "One life for another." Daniel shouted again, his voice shaking. "You hear me, Guardian of the Orb, I did all this, for you! Now, once more, withdraw your Shadow from my domain!"

"Daniel!" Alexander spoke sharply, snapping Daniel from his trance. "It is done. Come, there is much to do with the prisoners. The Shadow may be warded for now, but we must not rest from our other duties."

Daniel raised his head, looking at the wall in front of him. He removed his hands from the dead man and let them hang at his sides. For a moment Alexander thought the younger man was going to break again and cry, as he had done only a few nights ago in the guest room. Alexander was generally a patient man, but at that moment, he was in no condition to console a weeping, cursed man.

It came as a shock when Daniel spun around, wrapping his arms about the older man's neck, and drew him into a kiss. Alexander's eyes widened, and he was staring into Daniel's once more. He had thought he had snapped the young man out of it, but his eyes told another story. He was much more far gone than he had thought.

"I. did. well." Daniel repeated, leaning back onto the table, bringing Alexander down with him.

Alexander had to prop himself up with his hands on either side of Daniel's head. He wasn't sure what the younger was trying to do, or at least he wasn't sure if the other really knew what he was doing. Daniel sensed the older man's hesitation, and drew him in again for yet another kiss, pulling him down so that their bodies touched. Everything inside Alexander told him he should pull away, leave the room, and move on to the duties that were still to be done that day. But Daniel rolled his hips up into Alexander's, and Alexander groaned.

It had been far too long since Alexander had seen his love, and it finally struck him why he felt strange when he saw the way Daniel had been behaving. He was horny as hell!

Daniel continued to roll his hips against Alexander as his tongue found its way into the older man's mouth. Alexander gave up on resisting, and eagerly proceeded to explore Daniel's mouth with his own tongue. The two remained locked that way for several moments, their tongues dancing and saliva trickling from the corners of their mouths, their hips and groins pressed together, and their panting and moans starting to fill the room.

One thing still bothered Alexander, though, and he removed a hand from the table in an attempt to fix this problem. His hand barely made it to the bindings the dead man was still in when Daniel bit his tongue just sharp enough to cause pain.

"Forget him." He hissed, grinding his hips against Alexander again. "We have a more pressing issue right now."

That was all Alexander needed to know. He attacked Daniel's mouth with kisses, each getting feistier and sloppier, and Daniel responded in kind by picking up the pace of his hips. Alexander ran his fingers through Daniel's hair, staining themselves with the blood of the man the two were lying on, and Daniel further dirtied him by painting his white hair with what blood was left on this hands, a mixture of a dead man's and Daniel's. Alexander liked that.

Alexander decided it was time to rid them of their pants, and upon touching the waistband of Daniel's found himself flipped over onto his back with the younger now on top of him. Daniel placed a finger over the other man's lips to silence him before kissing him once more. The younger then picked up where Alexander had been forced to leave off and removed both his own trousers and Alexander's. Daniel didn't particularly care for the look of the older man's body, so he did no more with his clothing. His own, however, were removed in record time. Alexander smirked as he watched as more and more of Daniel's skin was exposed for him, his own eyes becoming wild.

As Daniel leaned back down to continue the task at hand, he once more found himself on his back beneath Alexander. He glared at the older man, to which Alexander told him, "You are already so bloodied up, it is easier to clean one person than it is two." And the issue was pursued no more.

Alexander's hand disappeared behind Daniel, and the younger winced as he was invaded. For a moment Alexander feared that Daniel would really snap out of this, and that he would be rejected. Relief washed over him and Daniel instead thrust himself as far down onto Alexander's fingers as he could.

"Is that all, Alex? After all you have done to those men, you cannot bring yourself to harm me?" Daniel taunted.

"Because you are so able to do that on your own, Dan." Alexander replied, growling as Daniel greedily rode his fingers.

Daniel kissed Alexander once more, which was quite eagerly returned as the fingers were removed. Neither skipped a beat, and as Daniel thrust back down, Alexander entered him, causing the younger to moan. Foreplay be damned, they both wanted this far too much.

The air became stifling, and heavy with their pants, Daniel's moans, and Alexander's grunts. Daniel may have thought over and practiced well when it came to efficiently torturing the prisoners, but his inexperience showed when it came to this. He fumbled with everything, not sure what he was supposed to do exactly. Alexander sped up his thrusts, moving from Daniel's swollen lips to his jaw and down to his throat. He wondered if Daniel would talk to himself again, he wanted to hear it if he would. But Daniel hardly seemed capable of coherent thought, let alone speech. Slightly disappointed, Alexander chose to listen to the sounds he made with each thrust as the two drew closer to their climax.

It didn't take much before Daniel reached his limit, his seed spilling over himself, mixing with the blood he was now soaked in. Alexander grunted again, and followed suite, his own essence filling Daniel to the brim. Daniel roughly grabbed Alexander's hair and brought him in to kiss once more as the older man pulled out from him.

Alexander removed himself from Daniel and clothed himself once more. The younger man still lay sprawled upon the corpse that was growing cold. He was still panting heavily, and watched Alexander's every movement. He thought he saw disgust in the old man's face, and once more thought that his inexperience had messed things up.

"Alexander, there isn't much time." He said softly, lowering his gaze from the white haired man. "I can feel it. We must act swiftly." He glanced at the dead man from the corner of his eye. "I will do whatever it takes."

Alexander studied the younger man's face. Daniel's expression was not that of a sane man's. It had not been for many days, but now it was not just his eyes, but the rest of him. He looked tired. Alexander made to leave the room, but Daniel spoke again.

"I will not fail like the last time."

Alexander smirked. Daniel may be out of his mind, but he was such an obedient man, and such a quick learner. Alexander liked that about him.

"I know you won't, Daniel."

Nothing to see here, move along. ^^;