er, not my FIRST fic for twewy, but certainly my first real attempt. its no wheres near done, and it'll update only until i run outa stuff XD enjoy while it lasts.

warning: AU, shounen ai, angst, ooc, oc, gore, character death.
inspiration: a friend requested i write it, thats my only real inspiration XD
reason: cuz she asked, and cuz theres not heaps of josh/neku horror stories.
rating: T for now.
pairing: eventual josh/neku
summary: a car accident botches josh and neku's attempt at running away from home, resulting in neku's death. just when trauma and depression seem to be the worst in store for the remaining teen, the mysterious shadowy figure that starts to follow him around tops the charts.
disclaimer: not mine, never will be.

its a ghost story, but dont get too complacent with that. hopefully it will be of some interest~!

00000000

Sirens blared, loud and intruding. Everything was fuzzy, and the only thing that he could clearly see was asphalt, and a dark liquid around them. Not far from his vision, he could see an unresponsive boy, who watched with unseeing eyes. The world tumbled as he tried to stand, falling quickly to his knees, which seared a bright flash of pain, his hands catching him. He wasn't sure how it happened, but the car was upside down, and everything from the spinning to his crawling was a blur. Looking around, the silverette panicked, a slow realization hitting his confused mind.

The seat next to him was entirely empty. Seat belt ripped in two, and vacant. Unfocused eyes connected the pieces, realizing the boy that was not in his seat, was across the road from him, limp like a doll. As fast as he could, the teen made his way from the wreckage, hands burning, knees numb, and everything a giant blur. The scent of burning rubber and metal filled his nose, gagging and serving only to keep him from focusing further.

Crossing the road never took so long in his life that night. And even now, even though he had no room in his head for more thoughts, he knew this would be the biggest deal of his life. First and foremost, was the creeping, numbing wave of fear, a fear that the boy he was crawling towards wasn't alive. The distant, but loud as hell, sirens that had motivated him to move made his head ache, slicing his worries, but adding more panic to his already frantic mind. Hurry, you might get hit, a voice told the silverette, and while the teen wouldn't have listened to ANY voice in his head that didn't seem his own, he didn't question it at all.

At one point, he could swear he tried to stand, but there was a cracking sensation that sent him straight to the ground, breathless and in more pain than before. He'd never felt so afraid in his life, he hadn't thought he COULD be this terrified. But when he made it to the still boy, the dark liquidy substance (Blood, the voice said) seeping into his already torn and tattered jeans, (His mother would be furious...) he thought his heart stopped.

Details were lost to him in the dark and his vision swimming, but it looked like an arm had snapped off almost. Even more grotesque, was how the hips turned at a completely unnatural angle. Clothing torn in so many places, and so soaked, it didn't look like anything more than a wet rag. He didn't dare look past the boy's torso, keeping wide and frightened eyes on the pale face that stared blankly ahead. As if only just now seeing him, an eye swiveled up, staring at him. Something black was running down his forehead, and it was dying the white of his eye. Dribbling slowly, like a teardrop that didn't want to fall, it pooled on a bitten and torn open lip, trickling into his mouth or around it.

He'd never forget how those lips quivered, whispering broken words he couldn't hear above the godforsaken sirens. Leaning forward nervously, as if the boy would suddenly bite his head off, (He wouldn't, no matter how he threatened.) he murmured a "W-What?" that was loud to his ears, but nothing near loud enough to pierce the sirens. The sound of booted feet, loud and so frantic, half drowning the whimper split words.

"D-Don't...g-g...g...ss"

Whatever he was trying to say, was cut off by a booming voice. "Theres two of em!! Quick, get the-"

He didn't hear them though. Only the soft attempts to speak, before someone grabbed him, pulling him away roughly. The teen struggled, ignoring how his body demanded he stop. "L-let me go!! I c-cant l-"

They didn't listen. And as they dragged him, in the light of the ambulances and fire trucks, he could see himself in the boy's glassy eyes. He could see the lips still moving, eyes widening a fraction as he quivered.

000

The world was slow to come back to him when he next woke up. Blinking slowly as the noises and scent of antiseptic hit him, Joshua realized he was in a hospital. It was a slow realization, due to how fuzzy everything felt in his head, but it made him go still. Why was he in the hospital? When did he fall asleep? Blinking quickly, he tried to sit up, stopping only when a searing pain went up his arm. He let out a hiss, dropping back to the stiff bed quickly.

What the hell happened? he thought, trying to keep his panic to a minimum. It wasn't like Josh to panic. There wasn't anyone in the room from what he could see, only other cots that sat, empty and blindingly white. Giving up momentarily on the scan of the room, he focused on his throbbing arm. His wrist was encased in a cast, and he found himself staring. He couldn't ever remember breaking a bone.

A sudden crackle of static broke the silverette from his shock, and he looked up quickly, seeing nothing. Just when he was about to call himself a lunatic, the static came back, and was followed by the heavy wooden door to his room opening. It revealed a young lady, messy auburn hair framing her face, her scrub and baggy pants a turquoise color. Her eyes were wide, surprised but relieved.

"You're awake." she said, not bothered when he didn't reply.

Feet tapping nearly silently on the linoleum floor, she crossed the room, a clip board in hand. Watching as she scanned the board and a few machines in the room, Joshua debated asking her what happened. Would a nurse know? Or would that be a doctor? He wasn't sure, he never really was interested in things like hospitals or their staff. As far as he knew, his only real dealings were with the pharmacists would supplied his mother with the occasional cold medicine.

The silence didn't seem to bother the woman at all as she quietly spoke to herself, scribbling things down. Turning to focus on the teenager, she smiled brightly. "So how are you feeling??" she asked, glancing at the door.

Frowning, he replied with a quiet, "I've never felt worse in my life." and he hadn't. At least, it didn't feel like it.

Nodding a little, the woman tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I can imagine...you had some nasty injuries."

He raised an eyebrow, settling in his bed more comfortably. The woman went on, "You had glass in your knees and hands for one thing. You were cut up bad to...it looked like you'd been through a meat grinder." she said, a frown on her lips, eyebrows knitting.

Now that he thought about it, there WERE some bandages on his hands. Lifting the hand that wasn't in a cast, he eyed the bandages for a long moment. He remembered something slicing open his hands. What the glass had belonged to, he wasn't sure. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, tugging sharply, and he tried to ignore it at first. Everything was hitting him at once, and his lack of memory was bothering him...

Steeling himself for what he'd hear, he spoke slowly. "What...happened?"

The nurse went rigid, and she glanced around quickly. She was a little pale, and she chewed at her lip, clearly torn between saying it, and wondering if she'd be overstepping some boundary or rule. After a long moment, she replied, picking at her scrub. "You...you were in a car accident." she said carefully.

A long and heavy silence floated over the pair, Joshua taking in this information with startling reluctance. The woman watched the boy carefully, hoping she hadn't done the wrong thing by telling him. Eyes distant, the words struck a cord in the teen, bringing back a weak voice, shrieking sirens and haunting silence. Everything smashed down on him after that. The panic, the long crawl across the road, the blood, the boy- His mind froze up.

The boy...his eyes widened wide, and for the second time in his life, in what he was sure was one day, horror flooded him. Thats right, his mind quickly thought, we were...we were running away, and then- Oh god.

The nurse started, blinking quickly when one word spilled from the quiet teen. "Neku..."

She stared at the pale silverette for a long moment, as if he were possessed. Shifting her hold on the clip board, she frowned deeply, recognizing the name as one of the incoming patients from earlier. Around the same time as this boy had come in, she realized. Teethe biting down hard around her lip, she felt a wave of nausea hit her. "W-Who now?" she said quickly, trying to push down her flipping stomach.

All at once, the quiet and still boy was replaced with a twitchy and frantic person. "Wheres Neku?" he demanded, voice scratchy from lack of use.

Glancing away quickly and flinching, the nurse swallowed. "N-Neku...?" she questioned.

"Sakuraba Neku!" he clarified quickly.

A long pause followed, and Josh was tempted to repeat himself. "Oh...h-him." came the quiet reply.

Something about the way she said that made his stomach drop. "What happened to him? Is he okay?" He had to be, if he wasn't...

Shifting from foot to foot, the nurse debated answering this. She wasn't sure what would happen, but some form of breakdown was sure to follow. Being still in the early stages of her training, Eri wasn't sure how the news would affect her job, let alone the silverette in front of her. She was caught between a rock and a hard spot, and she half wished Joshua would see this and forget the question.

The silence was killing him. Was he okay? Did Neku escape with little more than a few broken bones? The memory of a twisted and shattered body refused to vacate his minds eye, and a worse paranoia washed over him. What if he was paralyzed? What if he was alive, and unable to move and just laying there worrying himself sick? The redhead always did have an unhealthy habit of thinking negatively. Josh didn't even entertain the thought in the background, the one that whispered, but was louder than any other voice.

"He..." snapping to attention, the teen listened anxiously, eyes narrowing in annoyance at how the woman kept pausing. Could she not see he was scared out of his mind here? "He didn't make it..."

Going unnaturally still, the silverette watched as Eri shifted her weight, refusing to meet his eyes. Disbelieving, he said lowly, "What?"

A tension worse than before filled the room, worse than the urge to move his wrist, worse than the paranoia. Josh always hated suspense when he was the victim of it. "H-He didn't make it." she said a tad bit louder. "I...he wasn't in my care, so I don't know the details but...he died a little after he was brought here."

The world momentarily, or he hoped, shattered around him. Died? his mind repeated over and over, the word sinking in slowly. No, there had to be some mistake. "A-Are you sure?" he said, feigning a sniff of contempt.

The flimsy act didn't go past the nurse, and not for the first time, she wondered why she had chosen being a doctor over a designer. "I'm...sure." she confirmed reluctantly.

All at once, the act crumbled and the words hit home. Neku was dead. Dead. The word never clicked as harshly as it did now, and he found his breathing stopping. His hearing began to hiss and crackle, a long beeping echoing in his ear, and he tuned out.

00000

one chapter down~