WARNINGS: language and death.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own hetalia

He was gorgeous. That was all Alfred could think of as he sat on the blood soaked carpet.

Before him was a nothing short of a blood bath, his victim this time had put up quite a fight. It didn't take long; it never took long, for the telltale feeling of nausea to crash into him. It was the "signal" he got moments before he appeared.

Sure enough, his patience was quickly rewarded when he heard the ring of bells behind him. He quickly clambered up, taking a few moments to ignore the nausea and straighten himself out before addressing the newcomer. "Didya miss me, Ivan?" he asked with hooded eyes and a goofy grin.

The being before him crinkled his nose in distaste before passing Alfred to inspect the mangled body. "You never are one for cleanliness are you, Alfred?" The hooded figure finally spoke up.

"Oh come on, you know you'd get bored if I didn't find a new way to display the bodies each time we have a date" Alfred leaned forward onto a desk while swaying his hips in an enticing manner.

"I got bored of this little game you play after the 5th one." Ivan huffed in annoyance before bringing down his hood and shooting Alfred a look of pity. Alfred gave a little shake of excitement before giggling in glee. He always loved when his beloved revealed his face. Piercing violet eyes partly hid behind silver messy hair. His skin paler than the corpses Alfred had regularly gifted him to make sure he would never have to go too long without seeing his Ivan.

"Don't be like that; I know you can't wait till it's my turn to come with you. Then we'll never be apart… but until then, I hope you're satisfied with meeting like this" he gave a dreamy smile before resting his chin on the desk and watching the other continue his work.

Ivan sighed before kneeling over the corpse and reaching into his chest, pulling out a small white rock. He reached into his robe to pull out a large white pouch, dropping the rock in before tying it up once again and storing it away again.

"You were such an innocent child… A shame what has happened to you." And with that, the Ivan pulled over his hood once again and disappeared, leaving Alfred alone with nothing more than his thoughts.

August 24th, 2004.

Alfred awoke with a start, a piercing scream ripping through his ears.

"PLEASE, NO! DON'T - THERE'S NO ONE ELSE HERE, I SWEAR. IT'S JUST ME, PLE-"a thundering BANG rang through the house, followed by silent gurgling.

Immediately Alfred realized he was in danger, all he knew was that he needed to hide. Quickly scampering off his bed, he frantically looked around the room for a hiding spot as he heard footsteps approaching.

Without much thought, he dived under his bed and immediately stuffed his shirt into his mouth to silence his heavy breathing. A few moments later, he heard his door click open as footsteps came in.

"Don't worry, I'll check the room for the brat." A deep voice rang out causing Alfred to whimper softly. The footsteps approached his bedside, Alfred was shaking violently as tears prickled his eyes and he tried his best to stay silent. This was the end; there was no way they wouldn't check under the bed with all the noise he was making.

He tensed as he suddenly felt metal prodding his shoulder, his eyes immediately widened as he shakily turned to face the direction it was coming from.

He nearly shrieked when he saw a gun pointed at his shoulder, but was quickly silenced when the man shoved a hand against his mouth. He set the gun aside before bringing his free hand up the his own lips and making a "shushing" gesture before slowly taking his hand away and getting up again.

Alfred stayed petrified on the floor as he tried to figure out what was happening, but was quickly broken out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of his window quietly rustling open.

"Hey Jake, I think the kid escaped. I looked all over the room but only found the window open!" the man called out.

"FUCK! Let's get out before the kid finds someone to call the cops, we already killed who we needed to anyways"

"Alright, I'll be right out!" the man called back before once again kneeling onto the floor and facing Alfred.

"Don't do anything yet kid, wait a minute after hearing the door shut before you come out. I just… I'm sorry. I'm doing my job, but even someone destined for hell has some morals." With that, the man got up again and jogged out the room. It only took a few seconds for Alfred to hear the front door click shut.

Ignoring the man's warning, he quickly scurried away from under the bed and dashed to the living room. What met him was a scene that would haunt his dreams well into his adulthood.

There lay his mother, what was once a white nightgown now splattered with blood seeping from her neck. She was bent awkwardly; her back arched in a painful looking position. Her hands had been tied behind her, and once again tied to her ankles restricting her body from resting even after her death.

Alfred barely registered the tears pouring out of his eyes as he dropped to the floor, too shocked to even scream at this point. After what felt like an eternity of silence, his reverie was broken by the pitched ringing of bells.

Immediately assuming the murderers were back, Alfred quickly whipped around preparing to run, but what he saw instead made him pause in his tracks.

A tall hooded figure stood behind him, face obscured by the hood so only the sad looking smile was visible. Alfred immediately flinched as he saw the figure step forward, causing the being the pause.

After a few moments of silence, the figure pulled his hood off completely before leaning down to face Alfred at eye-level.

"Could it be that you see me?" The man asked curiously.

Alfred, too dazed to even talk yet, simply nodded his head.

"Ah, I see… you must've been close to death as well, but spared." The man walked past Alfred and knelt down at his mother's corpse. Alfred finally snapped out of his daze, "DON'T TOUCH HER!" he shrieked before running to her side and clinging to her body, "YOU CAN'T HURT HER, I HAVE TO PROTECT HER UNTIL SHE WAKES UP, I CAN'T LET HER GET HURT AGAIN" the child screamed as he clung to her body, staining himself with the blood.

The man sighed solemnly before bringing a hand to Alfred's head, stroking it gently. "Do not worry little one, she's not going to be in pain" he said before reaching into her chest. Alfred's eyes widened as he witnessed him bury his hand in his mother before violently shoving himself against his arm. "STOP HURTING HER!" Alfred sobbed out.

He watched as the mysterious man reached into his robe to pull out pouch and untied it silently. He held out a small white rock on his palm to show Alfred, "This is her soul" Alfred tensed in horror, "and I'm her guide." Alfred pushed himself away from the man before staring at him in confusion.

"I am the guide to the afterlife, and I promise to take good care of her." He reached out to gently pet Alfred's head. "You normally wouldn't be able to see me, but seeing as you yourself were at deaths gate, you can. But don't worry, we won't see each other again anytime soon I hope" he smiled before standing up again.

As he was about to make his leave, he paused as he felt a soft tugging at his robe. He turned to see Alfred clinging onto his robe.

"I… I want to go too…" Alfred managed to whimper out.

The being gave the boy a sympathetic look before shaking his head, "your time will come too, but now is not the time. But if it makes you feel any better, I am quite certain I should be the one in charge of your soul. So do not worry, we will meet again, and I shall take you."

Alfred nodded to himself before letting go. "W-wait! Can… I know your name?"

The man nodded, "I have no need for a name anymore, but when I was living, I was Ivan".

And with that, Ivan disappeared.

It would be 10 more years before Alfred saw him again, but this time he would be the cause of the bloody corpse in front of him.

Alfred was pacing back and forth in his room, knowing the cops were going to appear any moment now. But no, he wasn't worried about that, in fact that barely even fazed him. No, today was the day he was going to be with Ivan. Forever.

He knew from the start it wouldn't take long for the police to catch him, it would be stupid to think he could get away with more than 2 murders with today's technology. And with the grand amount he had done… really, it was a matter of time at this point.

He felt true happiness for the first time in years. A gun with a single bullet waited for him on the bed, one shot was all it took and he'd be happy…

He jumped when he suddenly heard his front door crash open. It was now or never. He refused to live locked up if he could die right here and be with his love forever this time. Everything was for him.

He quickly snatched the gun and pressed it against his temple, and the second his bedroom door slammed open-

BANG

Alfred woke up in his room standing over his own body. He did it! Now he only had to wait for-

"Hello Alfred" wait… that wasn't-

He whipped around to see who it was - another hooded figure… but this one was different.

He immediately noted the chains that wrapped around its body. Its robes tattered at the ends as if ravaged by a wild animal. And unlike Ivan, the inside of its hood seemed completely empty.

"W-where… where is Ivan?" he mumbled. "Where… WHERE IS HE? HE SAID HE WOULD BE HERE!"

Suddenly the being was shaking with laughter, a grotesque and raspy laugh that made Alfred wanted to rip his own ears out. This isn't right, he knew he was dead, but where's Iv-

"Foolish. Ivan is the guide to the afterlife for good souls… souls that deserve mercy. You deserve no such thing. You'll be coming with me where the putrid souls go."

"Wait… why? Why wouldn't Ivan tell me if he knew? Didn't he know it was all for-"

He suddenly felt thick chains wrap around his body tightly, preventing him from further movement.

"NO LET ME GO, IVAN HELP ME, IVA-"his eyes widened as the chains wrapped around his mouth as well. No no no it isn't supposed to be like this.

His vision was slowly failing, still violently thrashing against the chains. Ivan wouldn't do this to him… why didn't Ivan tell him? He wouldn't have killed, he wouldn't have hurt anyone, he would have just killed himself and gone at once. Why didn't Ivan tell him?

The being shook its head, "Those who only the threat of eternal damnation prevents them from doing evil deserve to be damned."

Alfred felt tears prickling his eyes, this was the end… and he wouldn't even see his love one last time.

He heard the raspy laugh once more before everything went black.

Inspired by a prompt on reddit /r/ writingpromps, and the life of an old family friend who was spared from death by his family's murderers only to grow up and become a criminal and get killed himself.

Thank you for reading! I hope it was decent. I feel I may have rushed a bit but I couldn't think of a way to slow it down without dragging it on unnecessarily. All comments and constructive criticism is very appreciated.