Fate's Vinculum

Chapter 8.

"Hey."

Sires lifted his eyes. It was that evening, and Matt had come to join him for dinner. As always, Sires had sat away from most everyone. Matt usually joined him, not minding the seclusion.

Sires grunted in acknowledgment as Matt sat across from him. Matt looked around himself, then leaned forward and spoke in a hushed voice.

"Everyone's talking about you, you know."

Sires lifted his dark eyes once more. "Oh?"

"They say you beheaded Aaron."

Sires snorted, taking up his fork and shoving food into his mouth.

Matt raised his eyebrows. "Well did you?"

Calmly, Sires put down his silverware. Matt waited patiently as Sires finished chewing, swallowed, and then drank some water. Once done, he wiped off his mouth and looked seriously at Matt.

"What do you think?"

Matt visibly shuddered. "Why?"

Sires chuckled, shook his head, and went back to eating. When Matt realized Sires didn't plan on continuing the conversation, he sighed, took up his own silverware, and began to eat along with Sires. Half the meal passed like this.

"Are you alright?"

Sires paused from cutting up the last bit of steak, glancing up at Matt. Matt had finished his food, and Sires vaguely wondered how long the young man had been watching him for. Blinking, Sires looked back at his nearly empty plate. "What do you mean?"

"You're...different. Not like when I first met you."

Sires gave another noncomental snort.

Matt frowned. "I just wanted to know if you're okay."

Unexpectedly, Sires slammed his fork down. Matt jumped, and Sires slowly rose to his feet. Matt looked petrified when Sires needed to get unhinged laughter under control. Some fellow students briefly looked over before ducking their heads in whispers.

"Am I okay?" Sires asked, corners of his mouth twitching as he suppressed laughter. "Am I okay? I watched my entire family be violently murdered in front of my eyes when I was nine years old. Then, out of the kindness of their heart, an elderly couple took me in and raised me as their own."

Matt began to shrink away as Sire's voice grew louder and louder. As Sires continued, people at different tables stopped eating and openly stared at the scene playing out before them.

Sires laughed. "That stability didn't last long, because then I was kidnapped and brought here, where I was told my father used to be an assassin, and the reason he, my mother, and my sister were slaughtered before my eyes was because of his past."

Sires slammed his hands down on the table so hard his palms stung. Matt now looked petrified, leaning as far back in his seat without toppling out of it. As Sires continued, he was shouting now.

"Evidently my father was X's favorite, something everyone here apparently knew besides me! They knew right out of the gate I'd be treated differently, and they were jealous which made everyone bully me."

Sires cackled, spittle flying out of his mouth. "Because, you know, my lot in life hasn't been hard enough, right? Then I have to be the butt of a joke I didn't even know the punch line to!"

Matt blinked as Sires began to shout. "Oh, and lets not forget how X, the leader of this God forsaken Hell hole, makes me his pleasure thing. All of this happened to me, and I haven't had a say in any of it, ever."