So, for some reason I got this idea while playing Mario Kart Wii while I was kicking ass as King Boo, despite my main character for that game is sadly, Daisy. -shot-
There was one thing that Alfred had an irrational and completely spazztastic fear of.
Ghosts.
There was just something freaky about being able to see through their body like they were made of some sort of hazy smoke. Not to mention the way their voice had that eerie echo to it, even if they were trying to speak normally or warn someone in those movies he always liked to watch, despite his fear. They could change their shape, and there was also the fact that they could go through walls like they weren't even there.
Oh, and the fact that they were dead. That was probably the most legit reason.
Alfred always had a nervous tick in the back of his mind of him seeing someone that he had known when they were alive as a ghost. The legend of the ghost of Lincoln being spotted in the white house was enough to get him an apartment for himself and completely steer clear of the white house at night.
Now, all of this added together would obviously point to the fact that Alfred would steer clear of anything ghost related, except for his ghost movies which he still watched even though they scared the hell out of him and whenever he was trying to prove he was heroic. More often than not, those would backfire miserably but he would laugh it off declaring he was the hero and he MEANT to run away sobbing and screaming like a little girl.
Well, Alfred had a bit of a surprise waiting for him when he woke up one fateful morning at 2 am.
When he woke up to see himself laying on his bed completely still and with a blueish tinted skin.
"WHAT THE FUCK!"
Now, despite being a personified country, he still reacted to this situation like any other human would when they saw that they were not actually in their body but was floating a few feet above it.
Completely freaking out.
"WAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'M DEAAADDDDDDD! THE HEROES ARE NEVER SUPPOSED TO DIE!"
He cautiously floated down and poked at himself to see if it was real…only for his hand to go through it.
Needless to say, he had another freak out.
Now, Alfred decided to go with plan B, even if it was a bit difficult to try to learn how to hold objects without letting them literally slip through his fingers.
Call England!
Now, it was 7 am that same fateful morning in London, England where Arthur was enjoying some tea and some breakfast, enjoying the peaceful serenity of the London morning where it had rained overnight so there was that wonderful damp and fresh smell in the world and the dew clung tightly to the freshly cut grass. All you could hear was the slight hum of morning traffic and the soft chirping of the birds in the tree that had been growing in his front yard since he had first owned the place, and Arthur's cell phone.
His cell phone?
The Brit frowned when he checked the caller ID, not at all surprised to see who it was but wasn't it 2 am in DC with the time difference? Like Alfred would care…
"What is it you bloody git? Shouldn't you be asleep right now?"
"…"
Arthur paused, not hearing anything on the other side of the line and was slightly confused. Where was the frantic screaming caused by a cheaply made American horror movie?
"Hello?" He tried again, a little less sure of himself this time around.
"…Arthur…" A chill went down his spine as his name was called. That was certainly not normal. It was a wispy sort of voice, with a kind of quality that you only heard before there was some sort of murderer behind your back ready to strike you down with a rusty axe. Arthur checked behind himself nervously to make sure.
"Alfred?"
"….Arthur…..help me…" The Brit blinked. This was Alfred? It sounded like the life was drained right out of him.
"Alfred, what's wrong?" He asked a little more urgently. This wasn't like America at all. There was no response on the other end but he heard the phone clatter to the floor and the line go dead.
That's it. There was no way in hell he wasn't going to Alfred's apartment right this very moment.
He quickly turned off the stove, cleaned off the food from his half eaten breakfast, threw some clothes in a bag and grabbed his keys and wallet and locked the door behind him as he left for the airport. Something was seriously wrong and he was going to find out exactly what the hell was going on.
He just couldn't get that icy gnawing pit of dread clawing at his insides.
Alfred swore as he lost concentration and his cell phone drop out of his translucent hands and clatter to the floor, the battery jumping out of the small electronic. He had used all of his willpower just in getting three words out that Arthur could catch. Sure, he'd tried speaking normally when Arthur picked up the phone, but it was like the lighter-haired blond couldn't understand him, or his own words got carried off into the wind. It was hard enough just trying to keep a grip on the phone but trying to get those words out had given him a headache…if that happened as a ghost…he let out another shiver at referring to himself as the one thing he was terrified of.
Alfred was exhausted and just wanted to go back to sleep, but taking one look at his…body laying there made him rethink his plan…
His walk-in closet door was open and it was pretty big…he could stay in there. He didn't want to experience going through walls. He was already trying not to freak out every time he looked down and saw that he could see through his own limbs.
Curling up in a little ball near the back of his large closet amidst the clutter of a mixture of clean and dirty clothes, he pushed the situation as far back into the recesses of his mind and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Arthur was glad that Alfred was so predictable at hiding the key to his apartment. Always underneath the marvel superhero welcome mat, like always but taped to the bottom of it. Smart move, but he's have to find somewhere else to put it at some point.
'If he's not seriously injured or something…' he thought to himself but quickly banished the thought from his mind as he entered the medium sized D.C. apartment.
"Alfred? Are you there?" He called and the dread in his being only grew as he searched the apartment. There was a pizza box on the living room table next to an Xbox 360 controller. There were stacks of games next to a remote to Alfred's flat screen he'd won in that one online competition. Rolling his eyes, Arthur moved on.
The kitchen was actually in a clean state, with only a few glasses and bowls sitting in the sink, still unclean from the day before and a lone soda can sat on the otherwise clean countertop. Arthur quickly checked the medium sized bathroom, then the small office but found no trace of the American.
He finally reached the closed bedroom door and took a deep breath. This was the only room he didn't check. He slowly opened the door to see a cell phone and it's battery scattered on the floor next to the king sized bed where Alfred laid, completely still and peaceful. Too peaceful.
"Alfred?" He whispered. He noticed the pale blueness to the man's face and he himself paled. He put fingers to Alfred's neck and drew away for a moment from the coldness of his skin but checked for a pulse…and didn't receive any response from the lad's heart.
"Oh bloody hell…" He slowly backed away from the body of his former charge and tried to control his breathing. Alfred? Dead? There was no way in hell that the lively boy he had raised was ever so quiet and reserved! He tripped backwards on some clothes on the ground and fell into the closet where he head someone gasp and Arthur quickly spotted Alfred's gun he kept near the door of his closet, which he had boasted about having for quite some time, and whipped around quickly to aim at Alfred's possible killer only to turn, ironically, ghostly pale.
"Arthur?"
And he fired.
So, I decided to make this into a 2-shot at least. XD HA! THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING YOU, ISN'T IT? Well, I hope you review ;) It might make me happy enough to finish the story =P
JK, it'll probably be up tomorrow ((AKA later today since it's 2:27 am as I finish typing this little bit XD))
