Chapter 1: Both Sacred and Dust
Nasir Anderson tightened his hand around the strap of his camera as he passed a group of white men, keeping his eyes on the ground ahead of him. He knew the possibilities of what could happen if they felt threatened or if they were even simply bored. He tensed when he saw one of the men smirk and lean over to one of his friends. He bit his lip and walked a little faster when they all looked at him with a spark in their eyes.
And he froze when they yelled his name.
"Hey Anderson!"
He squeezed his eyes shut and his hands tightened around his camera strap further. He turned on his heel, tucked a curl behind his ear and weakly smiled at the men without looking up, "Benson, hello."
Benson smirked and stood up, the others following not too long after, "How ya been?"
"Pretty good, actually. The magazine and newspaper have be- ah!" He raised a hand to his nose and winced when he saw blood on his fingers, "Right. This," he muttered.
Nasir nearly sobbed when one of the men- he couldn't tell which it was as he was too busy trying to keep himself standing by pressing himself against the wall of some building as they were beating him within an inch of his life- took his camera and smashed it. Once they had left, he allowed himself to sink to his knees, gathering the pieces of his camera and clutching them to his chest, leaving his snapped glasses beside him as he passed out.
"Garrison, are you sure he'll be okay?" Was the first thing he heard when came to.
"I'm sure, Howard, give the boy some time," a gruffer voice huffed. "You never did have patience-."
"I'm just worried I didn't get to him in t-," the first voice cut off, "you're awake?"
Nasir kept his eyes closed and gave a small nod, "Think you could open your eyes or say something, boy?" The second voice asked.
"If I open my eyes I won't be able to see and I'm not looking forward to waking up to an unfamiliar place."
"You rather have died in that alley?" The first voice asked.
Nasir shrugged, "Yeah."
Hands gently grabbed his shoulders and he only then realized that he didn't have a shirt on. The hands were callused and rough, but they were warm and gentle, "I don't want you to ever say anything like that again."
"My camera is broken. There's no way for it to be fixed, m- my last- I got it from my Dad," he brokenly stuttered. "I'd rather die with my camera than live without it."
The second voice quietly spoke, "I fixed it."
Nasir's eyes snapped open, "What?"
"I fixed your glasses and your camera."
He gingerly took his camera when the man, the white man with wavy brown hair and startlingly grey eyes, handed it to him. He carefully examined it, snapping a picture of a window once he saw the perfect symmetry and the sunset- or was it a sunrise?- behind it. He smiled softly at the picture and shyly looked up at the man, "Thank you."
"Of course," the man nodded, handing Nasir his glasses. "I'm Tyler Garrison and the kid beside you is Khalid Howard."
"I'm n-."
"Compared to me, you're a kid," Tyler huffed.
Nasir snorted as he slid his glasses on and looked at the man beside him. He had muscles, like, strong, well toned, really big muscles, slightly pointed ears, dark brown eyes that reminded him of a creek that he had once taken a model to last summer for her photo shoot and he had fangs. Were they fangs or was he just hallucinating?
"I'm sorry, uhm, wh- where's my shirt?"
Khalid- Howard?- blushed and took his shirt off, "Here, yours was ruined so we threw it out."
Nasir quickly pulled it on, glad that Howard- Khalid?- had on a shirt beneath it. He fumbled with the buttons, "It's fine. Uh, thanks, by the way, for saving me. But do you mind telling me how? And please don't lie, something has to be going on, y- you both have pointed ears, although his are longer," he said, nodding his head to Garrison- Tyler?, "and you have, uhm, fangs?"
"We're vampires," Tyler- Garrison?- answered. Completely serious. He went on a long winded explanation on how it was possible and how long he'd been alive and how he had become a vampire and separating the truths from the myths about their species and how there was a community of vampire hunters, namely the Sinclair's that were looking for vampires and killing them.
"Before I say anything," Nasir weakly said, "what do I call you both?"
"You can call me Khalid, Kal, Ali or Howard, if you'd like. Garrison over there calls me Howard, Kid, Baby and a multitude of mean things because he's a grumpy old man in a forty three year old's body," Khalid said with a jaunty smirk.
Nasir giggled, biting his lip lightly before anything else could slip out. He blushed, hid his face in his hands and turned to Garrison who was heavily glaring at Khalid and muttering something about 'disrespectful children', "You can call me Garrison or Tyler."
Nasir nodded and held his hand out to the man, "I'm Nasir Anderson, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Garrison."
Garrison gave him a smile and shook his hand firmly, "I like you already, Anderson. How old are you?"
"Twenty four, sir."
"Same age as Lughead over there," Garrison nodded, "you two talk and get to know each other, I'm going to go and get some food. I'll be back in a few hours."
"A few hours for food, Garrison?" Khalid huffed, crossing his arms.
Garrison rolled his eyes, "Anderson does need clothes, Idiot."
Once Garrison left, slamming the door behind him, Khalid and Nasir started talking, slowly diving into personal things and quickly becoming close friends. For six years and eight months, the three of them lived happily together, moving every so often just for changes of scenery and protection when they were found by Ryan Sinclair.
"Gary, Gary, please come with me," Nasir pleaded, grabbing his camera and bag.
"I can't, Son," Garrison sighed, pressing his watch into Nasir's hand and sliding his ring onto Khalid's finger, "Ryan isn't like me, he won't care if you're a regular human, you're black and that's enough for him. You two go, be happy together. Get married, adopt some kids, live to see times change and get better."
Khalid shook his head, "Garrison, come on-."
"Howard, don't make me throw you out of that window," Garrison huffed, "you know damn well that I'll do it. Go with Nasir and keep him safe, Kid."
"Garrison-."
They all stiffened and their heads snapped to the door when they heard something shatter, "Go, now," Garrison hissed.
Nasir gave Garrison a tight hug, "Thank you everything, Tyler. You've been a great father to me."
Garrison hesitated before hugging him back, "Yeah, you keep Khalid in line, okay? Listen to him but make sure he listens to you."
"Got it."
Khalid licked his lips and nodded slightly before hugging him, "Why don't y-."
"He needs you, Khalid, and you need him. Keep him safe and listen to him sometimes, alright?"
"Garrison-."
"Go, Khalid. He isn't a fighter. Go with him and have a family," Garrison sternly said, "you were a great son. You'll be an even better husband and father. Now go with Nasir, Khalid."
Khalid nodded, squeezed him one last time and turned to Nasir, taking his hand and running away with him, clenching his jaw when he heard the gunshot and running faster.
"Kali," Nasir suddenly said while they were laying on the roof of the house where they first met. He blushed and let out a deep sigh when Khalid raised an eyebrow and tilted his head before letting it fall toward him, his eyes flickering from the sky to his eyes.
"Kali?" Khalid repeated.
Nasir blushed heavier, playing with his fingers, "I- it slipped. I call you that sometimes in my head, I di- I didn't mean t-."
"It's okay, Nas, I just wasn't expecting that from you," Khalid chuckled, "you're prim and proper."
Nasir rolled his eyes and shook his head as he laughed, "Sure, whatever. I just- I miss him."
"I miss him too," Khalid sighed, taking Nasir's hand and pressing a kiss to his palm. "I think he's that star right there. It shines like his eyes when he's making a plan on how to get us alone."
"He is our number one fan," Nasir giggled.
"The second we can get married, Nas, were gonna do it," Khalid softly said, rolling onto his side, "I'm gonna propose to you, you'll say yes, we'll get married in May or June, you'll get everything you want. After we're married, we'll get four kids, we'll let them choose if they want to be turned when they're twenty four-."
"Because we were twenty four when we were turned?"
"Yeah."
"What if we just adopt kids that need help? Turn them then and there if they want?" Nasir offered.
Khalid nodded, "Yeah. We'll have to teach them control and how to fight then. The Sinclair's are bound to breed and have kids and teach them stuff."
"Times will change, Kal, I'm sure of it. We'll be treated equally, black people and gay people and straight white people will all be equal. Gary was sure it would happen so it has to happen. He knew everything," Nasir childishly said. "Right?"
Khalid gave him a sad smile and kissed his forehead, "Yeah."
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