Cyrus's first memory from his childhood was of his mother's tearstained face as she was being thrown out from the old, dirty apartment complex in which they were living. She was holding little Cyrus tightly in her arms, the voice of the owner ringing loudly through the cold, dark night. "Get outta here you cheap whore!" he yelled after her, making the tired woman scurry away faster, holding an almost empty bag that contained all of their belongings with one hand while she held Cyrus against her chest with the other.
Cyrus's childhood was mostly composed of those kinds of memories. Dirty rooms, people yelling, barely having any food, his mother crying, living on the streets, getting kicked out again and again, stealing, getting into fights.
He loved his mother dearly. She was the kind of woman that managed to keep smiling even after going through hell every single day. When they were especially low on food, she would give her portion to Cyrus without even batting an eye, sometimes not eating anything for days on end. She always took up jobs, sometimes working even 20 hours a day, just to make enough money to keep living day by day.
As for his father, Cyrus never met him, thankfully (for his father). In her teenage years, his mother fell deeply in love with a noble man. He was gentle and loving, promising that he didn't care about her social status or her poverty, saying that he would make her his bride. And she truly believed him. Soon after, she got pregnant. When she told the noble man that she was with his child, he left her. Suicide crossed her mind multiple times, not knowing what else to do. However, every time she thought it would be easier to end it all, she remembered the small human growing inside of her -the human that was created out of her love. Even if she had to raise him alone, she refused to give up. Her baby boy would grow up knowing nothing but love, taking the best parts from both his mother and his father.
And that was how Cyrus was born. Just like she had promised, she always made sure Cyrus was feeling loved, even if they were sleeping on the cold streets or in dirty old rooms with no food. He had never doubted his mother's love for him.
But when he was just five years old, his mother fell with a sickness. In those times, tuberculosis was deadly, so he simply had to watch his beloved mother's life slowly drain out of her. Even on her death bed, she managed to muster a smile for her only son.
After her death, Cyrus roamed the streets as a vagabond, stealing food and money, not caring about his wellbeing at all. Without his mother, he was lost in a word of darkness.
That was until one day, an officer caught him stealing some bread. He brought him to a police station, but the officer wasn't brutal or violent -he was kind towards the little kid. He asked him if he had any family and, when he found out he was an orphan he asked him for his family name and left. He let Cyrus stay in the police station for a week, giving him warm food and making sure he was feeling well. The kid even became friends with the other officers.
Then, after a week, the police officer that had found him returned with two old people: a woman and a man. "I searched up people with your family name and I found them. They are your grandparents," he said.
Don't get it wrong. Even though they were his grandparents and they took him in, they were not good people. They threw out their own daughter, Cyrus's mother, after she got pregnant, leaving her to mend for herself. The only reason they agreed to take Cyrus in was because they were afraid of what other people would say when they found out they had a bastard grandson living on the streets.
Even though he now had a roof over his head and meals everyday, Cyrus's life wasn't any better. His grandparents basically treated him like a slave, making him sleep in the basement on a small, dirty mattress, not allowing him to come out during the day. The only time he exited the basement was during the night, when he was instructed to clean the entire house and do all the chores, so his grandparents wouldn't have to do them during the day.
The rules were way stricter when he was small, however, once he turned 13, his grandparents allowed him to spend time outside, letting him roam the streets and waste his time however he wanted -as long as he wasn't staining their name and he didn't bother them. During those times was when he ventured around and found a big house, filled with kids of all ages. He didn't know how to read, but if he did then he would have noticed the sign on which was written "St. Francis Orphanage". That orphanage was where he found a boy three years younger than him. His name was Lucius.
They quickly became friends, Cyrus breaking into the orphanage's yard every single day just to play and spend time with Lucius. He was his first friend and they were basically inseparable. Lucius was more his family than his grandparents ever were.
He found out that the boy's parents had died when he was just an infant, so he didn't remember them at all. Then, he was brought into this orphanage, where he spent all of his life.
Cyrus had a quick temper and usually didn't think before doing something. Lucius was quick witted and stopped Cyrus from doing stupid things. They bickered and argued a lot, but they both knew they were just joking. They truly were half of each other, feeling as if their souls were connected by a higher force.
As much as Lucius helped Cyrus's life become more bearable, his grandparents continued to make his life a living hell. That was until they both left for a day for some important business, locking Cyrus in the basement. The boy had found a piece of wire and he managed to unlock the door. As he stepped outside of the basement and his eyes landed on the box of matches left on the table, only one thought ran through his mind: revenge.
He burnt down their house. And, as he sat cross-legged on the road in front of it, watching the red flames completely engulf the house, he felt no remorse at all. People desperately tried to put out the flames, but it was too late. When his grandparents returned and saw that their house was completely gone, they almost went mad. Cyrus simply stared and smiled at them, until they realized what -or who- the source of the fire was.
That was all it took for them to throw Cyrus into the orphanage and move far, far away, completely abandoning him -not that he minded. That was how he ended up in the same orphanage as Lucius, spending everyday together and feeling happy for the first time. Lucius was all the family he needed. And the same went for Lucius.
Unfortunately, as Cyrus was three years older, he turned eighteen first, being released from the orphanage. On the day he left, Lucius cried in his arms, his entire body shaking with fear of being abandoned by the only family he had left. By his dearest friend.
"I'll wait for you. I'll work hard, and, in three years, when you'll finally get out of here, I'll be waiting for you in a house that I built with my own two hands. Our house. I'm not leaving you, you fucking idiot," he promised, laughing and ruffling Lucius's hair.
And, just like he had promised, only two days after he came out of the orphanage Cyrus found a job, working hard, visiting Lucius almost every single day, no matter how exhausted he was. For three years, he worked and worked, slowly but surely building a small and modest house.
On the day Lucius turned eighteen, Cyrus came first thing in the morning to the orphanage, finally bringing Lucius home. Life was finally starting to look up, their hearts filled with happiness and warmth as they had finally managed to create their own family, living in a home filled with nothing but love.
However, one unfortunate night, Lucius was sitting on the small patio in a rocking chair while Cyrus was sitting inside by the fireplace. Suddenly, Cyrus heard a loud noise from outside, followed by a small, almost unhearable yelp from Lucius.
"Lucius?" Cyrus asked, his voice filled with concern as a bad filling grew in his stomach.
Before he could get up from where he was sitting and go see if Lucius was ok, a figure burst through the door. Cyrus didn't even get the chance to fight back as the figure moved towards him with uncanny speed, sinking its teeth into his throat. As he fell to the floor, a pool of his own blood forming underneath him, the last thing he saw was Lucius's bloody body laying on the patio. Then, darkness took over and he thought he had died.
But he didn't.
He kept coming in and out of consciousness. The first time he woke up, his entire body was burning with pain. He immediately passed out again. When he woke up again, the pain was still unbearable, but he managed to stay conscious long enough to notice that Lucius was laying next to him and that another person was in the room with them, feeding his friend something with a spoon. The next times he woke up, that person was still standing next to them, seemingly taking care of them. All Cyrus could remember were the red and black eyes of the person taking care of them.
After what seemed like endless days of unbearable pain, Cyrus and Lucius had finally woken up. They instantly felt that something was... Different. That was also when they met the person that had been taking care of them. Reia.
Both of them were still too weak to fight him or try to get answers out of him, but, surprisingly, Reia willingly offered them the answers they were seeking. "My name is Reia. I'm a vampire," he started explaining, making both Lucius and Cyrus tense up, the pieces of the puzzle finally falling into place in their minds. Or so they thought. "I wasn't the one that bit you," Reia said. "The vampire that bit you has been killing humans all around the kingdom. I was following him, trying to catch and stop him, but I got here too late," he finished explaining.
From that day on, Reia took care of Cyrus and Lucius, helping them learn how to control their powers without going feral. Quickly, Reia had become a part of their family. He fit perfectly with them, the three vampires completing each other.
To be continued...
Hi! This chapter was Lucius and Cyrus's backstory<3 In the next chapter we'll go back to present time.
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