Through His Eyes

A/N

I joined a novel writing contest. O.o Yeah, I know... but I couldn't turn it down.

I wonder if my novel idea will be a subject people would like, so that is why I'm posting what I got here, to see if anyone would give me their opinions and tell me even if they'd like to read the finished product when of course it is finished! The deadline for the novel is Dec 31st! O.o It has to be at least 25K. I think I can do it. I just hope the subject is something people would want to read. Please be honest and tell me what you think.

PS. This isn't going to be shota. It has plot! And nothing sexual is going to happen until the main character is over 18. And this is the un beta'd version.

Chapter 1:

The young raven-haired boy got off the ground, wiping a hand over his puffy and bruised lip. He pulled the hand away, wincing in pain. Blood. It seemed like far too much blood for a split lip. That made the boy dizzy and sick to look at it. A cruel laugh sounded behind him. He knew who it was. It was always the same group of kids who followed him after school for a little fun rough housing; fun for them of course.

The ocean-eyed boy was Sae Angelo Carter. He was eleven years old, overweight and a bully magnet. Sae had just went through one of the toughest things in his whole short life and now he had to come live in another town, in another state. It didn't seem fair. He had a new group of bullies to worry about too, not to mention a step father that he was terrified of. None of it was fair.

He had lost his dad, his only friend, when the man's cancer turned for the worst. Before Sae knew it, he was all alone. He was shoved on a plane to go live with his birth mother in the small, quiet town of Calm. At least on the outside it seemed quiet, but to Sae, it was as loud as ever. He found that bullies were no different in small towns. In fact they were worse. Far worse. They could get away with so much more in a place like this. It didn't help that everyone was so close nit in Calm and the kids who had taken to bulling him were picture-perfect in the adults' eyes. Nobody would believe they had a darker side; that they liked to pick on people weaker then their selves.

Because of this, Sae didn't even have the guts to tell anyone. Who would believe the new kid anyway? Everyone would think he was trouble, making up things about such wholesome kids so that he could get some attention. Knowing how Sae's luck went, they'd even accuse him of purposely hurting himself so he'd have proof of being bullied.

Sae refused to cry, boldly looking up into the leader's eyes. His aquamarine eyes only just slightly wavered in fear. He stood his ground, standing tall, yet he knew he wouldn't be able to fight back, nor would he want to. He was not the violent type.

"Fatty, don't just stand there!" The leader was a twelve year old kid named Tommy. Tommy was tall and stocky. It looked like one day he could be a football player. He had bright red hair and baby blue eyes, much lighter then Sae's own blue eyes. His skin was pale as a ghost's almost. This alone would have probably been enough to get him bullied, weren't it for the fact that his father was the town sheriff. Tommy took advantage of that fact. He loved feeling like he was better then everyone else. He loved seeing them cry and beg for mercy. He loved that he could get away with it.

Mark laughed. "Look at him. He's trying not to cry." Mark was almost as bad as Tommy, but more with mental torment. "God, why do you think his mother let him leave the hospital with a face like that?" The brown-haired thirteen-year-old high-fived the third tormentor's hand. The other boy was more of a follower then anything. He never physically hurt Sae or anymore for that matter. He stood off more to the side, throwing insults around, so that he fit in with the others. His name was Ranel and he was eleven like Sae.

Sae turned his head away from the bullies, inwardly cursing himself for showing such emotion to the them. They didn't get or care how bad their words hurt him. The words were more hurtful then any beating ever could be.

___

Sae walked into the front door, his clear bright blue eyes darting around, hoping that he was alone for once. His step father was usually home before he left school and Sae hated coming back to the man. That was odd for him; he used to love coming home just to see his dad, but this man was nothing like his dad had been.

The raven-haired boy walked further into the house, his hesitant steps a clear sign that he was terrified of the unknown that could be waiting for him just around the corner. Everything in the house was quiet, almost too quiet. That didn't seem right to Sae. His step father was usually making some sort of noise to let his presence be known.

Looking around the door into the kitchen, Sae heaved a sigh of relief. He saw his step father, Jack had passed out over the kitchen table. The man was a drunk of the worst kind. When he got drunk, he'd always take out all his pint up anger on Sae. Luckily somehow Sae's mother didn't get any of this treatment. Something about Sae made his step father come after him and him alone.

His mother didn't realize anything was going on; she worked two jobs and never seemed to be home. Sae refused to tell her. He felt ashamed and upset that if he told his mother, the woman might be hurt that the person she loves so much could be this cruel. Even though his mother had left him with his father when he was a baby, Sae still loved her.

Sae shook his head, heading out of the kitchen, to go to his room. What a life he lived.

He wished things could be different; could be easer. He wondered if he was a skinny kid would he still get the rough treatment he got. Was being heavy the only reason why the bullies targeted him? Was being heavy the only reason Jack seemed to love tormenting him?

It wasn't right. A parent, step parent or not, should not treat their child in such a way. It was horrible.

Sae set down on his bed, kicking his dirt-covered tennis shoes off. He laid back and looked up at the ceiling.

"Dad," he started, speaking to the Heavens where he imagined his dad was looking down at him. "Today the guys cornered me right after I left the school. I had only got about a mile from the building when they caught sight of me."

He never got far. They were always waiting it seemed.

Sae closed his eyes, breathing heavy. "Its not really fair dad."

"Sae!" A loud voice boomed, breaking Sae out of his depressing thoughts. The boy cringed, jumping off his bed. He ran to his doorway, shaking. His step father was awake. Not good... Not good..

Sae's eyes darted back and forth, looking around the room. What could he do? He didn't want to be beat by his step father. The bullies had already done him in pretty good and he didn't think he could stand another rough housing.

Tears in his eyes, he bit down on his lower lip. Why didn't anyone love him?

He needed someone to love him.

"Sae!" This time the voice of his step father wasn't as loud; it was more curious and confused, as if Jake thought the boy wasn't home, because he hadn't answered the first time. Though now his voice sounded angrier.

"Oh no." Sae hugged his chubby middle. "He's really mad."

The heavy-set boy walked to his window, opening it. He looked out over his yard, then looked down. It was a far drop. He was on the second story after all, but if he hung from the window sill, then let go, it wouldn't be as far. Or that is what he hoped.

He had to do it; He was going to run for once. Sae wouldn't put up with another beating. Not right now. Not today.

Carefully he climbed out the window, lowering his body. He hung tightly to the sill, trying to look down to see how far the drop was now. It was still far. He was going to be hurt, but he had already came too far. Closing his eyes, he let go, letting out a gasp when his feet connected with the ground. His whole body felt like a chainsaw was cutting it into little bits. It hurt a lot.

Falling over to his side, he hugged his knees to his body, crying for all he was worth. Maybe the beating would have been a better idea after all. He sniffed, taking deep breaths as the pain slowly started to dull. He had only gave his body a major shock, nothing that would hurt him for a long period of time thank goodness.

Thankful that the pain had dulled, he slowly stood up and walked toward the back yard. There was woods everywhere in Calm. His house was surrounded by them.

Walking past the first row of trees, he sighed. He felt safe and hidden.

___

From a dark corner of the forest, a man stood. He looked to be about in his mid twenties. His eyes were a piercing lilac color and they seemed to be staring right at Sae's head as the young boy walked through the forest. The man cocked his head to the side, curious about the chubby child. Why did he have tears on his cheeks? He wasn't used to seeing people crying; wasn't really used to seeing mortals as it were. He always kept to himself, fearing being around mortals for longer then he needed to be. This was because the man was what people referred to as a vampire. The reason the man feared staying around mortals longer then what was needed was simple; he was not sure how long his self control could hold out. He wasn't evil, but the blood lust could get to be almost too much if he was left unfed or a long period of time.

Truth of the matter was there was a lot more to meet the eye about Calm. It wasn't the quiet the wholesome town everyone thought it was. It had a lot was more going on then that.

The race of vampires were one thing nobody knew of. There were other more out of this world races that were kept to the shadows like the blood suckers, but the vampires, like this man, were the ones most curious about the mortal beings, some in good ways and some in bad ways.

This man was now silently following the child, trying to hear him as he muttered to himself. His hearing was top notch and he could now hear the kid clearly. His eyes got impossibly wide when he made out the words the boy was saying.

His step father beat him? That was what the child was muttering about. Then there was something about bullies and being fat.

Fat?

The vampire looked the kid up and down. He was chubby, sure, but why would that be any reason for people to teat him differently. Why did it matter what you looked like on the outside? The vampire didn't understand mortal things like this. It terribly confused him.

This was sad. The kid seemed sweet, at least for a mortal. He didn't like people picking on beings weaker then them. It made him very angry. Despite what people believed about vampires of legend, most vampires were peaceful, at least the clan that lived in the Calm area.

Of course there was a few rouge vampires that lived on the outside of town, who ventured into the area to feed on the humans, but the peaceful race tried to stop it from happening for two reasons. The first was because they had morals and felt it was wrong to kill another being and the second was because they didn't want it to get out that there was something sinister going on in town, therefor getting their covers blown. The peaceful clan moved among the mortals, acting as if they were a normal everyday being.

Not sure what to do, the vampire continued to follow the boy. He wanted to talk to him so he could understand why the other was being hurt for being overweight. He didn't like things that he couldn't understand. He hated being confused. Finally,he stepped out of the shadows, making Sae gasp.

Sae saw a large man, no not man; the person looked to be a teenager, at least eighteen years of age. He looked kind, but Sae knew better then to trust someone, specially not a stranger. He backed up until his back was against a tree, looking quite terrified. He had every right to be, because of the things he went through in his life and it wasn't every day a strange, handsome teenager jumped out of the shadows.

So he hadn't jumped, but it felt like he had. Sae's heart was being so fast, he felt he'd get sick and pass out.

"Don't be alarmed," the man said. He stepped closer to Sae, trying to look as none intimidating as he could. He could clearly see that he had shook up the young child and didn't understand why. The boy would have no idea he was a vampire and he was sure he didn't look scary.

"I-I . . . " Sae stuttered. "Who are you? Why were you following me?" He finally managed to say, wishing the tree was between them, instead of having it digging into his back. In a even quieter voice, he added, "what do you want?"

"My name is Conrad and I wasn't meaning to be rude and follow you..."

---

PLEASE tell me what you think! Is the subject you'd want to read more about? Usually yaoi stories are all about hot sexy fit men, but what about the other half? The half getting teased, abused and tormented for not looking 'normal?'

And what about the people (or creatures in this case) who see past all that?

Two such people have now met. What will happen? Will you want to read more, even if its not your typical cute, blushy, sexy uke?

Let me know if I should bother finishing this for the contest. I do not think I can even come close to winning, but I'd like to know if this is worth even continuing. I'd like to know what you think.

Thank you.