Sebastian kept a swift pace as he left the renaissance building. The young man was outraged, and rightfully so, he felt. How dare they suggest him incapable of taking care of himself? The gall!
The boy's parents had suffered their 'unfortunate accident' mere months ago. Luckily, Sebastian had taken steps before then to be sure of his place in their will. That place was as the sole inheritor of... Well, everything. And so now his relatives were out for his blood, figuratively speaking, attempting to adopt him. This was a problem, as Sebastian needed privacy to perform his experiments. So, the young man had stormed from the 'family' dinner.
Now, Sebastian was walking down the street, no clear course in mind, only knowing that he needed to blow some steam off. But, far from naive, he had both of his pistols holstered underneath his jacket, in case he ran into trouble.
A strange figure was walking on the other side of the street, and the juvenile casually slipped his hand to his holster, nodding his head slightly to the heavy metal playing from his iPod. The man, or woman, he couldn't tell in this light, seemed to be shadowing him on the opposite side of the street.
Having being paying attention to the man from the corner of his eye, Sebastian had slipped one of his handguns from his back and brought it to the ready in front of him. The man, the juvenile assumed he was a mugger or some such, switched to his side of the street and was quickly closing the distance between them.
Sebastian's heart began to beat quickly. If he did not time this right, the boy could end up dead on the street, just another body to add to the count. Logically, the young man knew the odds were stacked in his favor. After all, he was aware of the man's approach, while the man thought he was oblivious and unarmed. Not to mention the high grade weapon Sebastian carried which could pierce some Kevlar vests.
Swinging around, gun raised, Sebastian stepped to the side to dodge any incoming threats while he aimed. He turned just in time to see someone pull the man into an alley.
The pragmatic side of the juvenile told him to keep walking, in fact, walk faster, but the curious part of him, one might even say the foolish part, told him to look. The foolhardy part one out, and Sebastian crept slowly to the alley, gun at the ready.
Halting, Sebastian heard some words being exchanged, something along the lines of a vampyre? A bead of sweat went down the young man's forehead as he tried to convince himself that these two men were crazy, that there was no such thing as vampyres, but an instinctual part of him recalled being hunted by stalkers in the night.
When a man, not the man who had originally been following him, but obviously the one who had pulled the other into the alleyway, came out and stepped in front of him, asking him if he was alright.
Raising his gun between him and the man who, from his earlier talk, was likely mentally unstable, Sebastian narrowed his eyes. "I am perfectly fine, if you must know. And I suspect that man was some sort of addict desperate for money, or quite possibly a simple thief." Taking a step back to put some distance between the two of them. "Of what concern is it to you?" the boy asked, the suspicion plain on his face.
Sebastian lowered his gun slightly in a gesture of trust, but the skeptical look on his face remained. Why had this man 'saved' him? It made no sense to the boy, but he needed to know. Questions were how his highly inquisitive mind processed things.
"I'm not a boy," the Sebastian grumbled "I am a young man." Sebastian wanted to believe that the man had just been some mugger, but a darker part of his mind whispered otherwise. A jealous aunt... A barely middle class second cousin, often rumored to have been a favorite of his mother... Was it possible his own kin had hired an assassin to arrange an 'accident' for the arrogant youth who so sneered down at them?
Yes, Hinge knew without a doubt. No, not Hinge, the young man reminded himself I am Sebastian. But that other part of himself could not be denied. The juvenile's alter ego's survival depended on his own, and would not be pushed down.
When presented with his first dissection of another person, Sebastian had told himself that he could not do it, but he had to. And so, the young man, a young boy at the time, had tricked himself into the act. It was not Sebastian who had done it, no, Sebastian merely witnessed and took notes while his good friend performed the dissection. And so Hinge was born, from the sealing of part of his mind away from the rest, the part of Sebastian that was willing to do anything in the name of his goals.
As the young man sighed, he put the gun away, holstering it beneath his jacket, wishing he had better people skills. "Apologies, but being attacked his put me a bit on edge." Sebastian looked more closely at the curious man who had apparently saved him.
"Besides, at first I feared you insane, hearing you talk to the other man as if vampires actually existed." The young man watched the other carefully as he said this, in case he truly was unstable. "Sebastian Hayes, by the way." He told him, extending his hand in greeting. A bit unorthodox, but the night was yet strange already.
