Title: It Comes In Spades

Pairings: ShikaChou

Rating: NC-17

Warning: This is an AU. There is sex, gore, blood, death, all the good stuff so be prepared. Oh and don't mind the grammar/spelling mistakes.

He was a phantom, one that lived in the shadows. He lived through the dark and attacked as he was a part of it. He was a shadow.

The night was dark and damp. A dense fog covered the ground in a white, cold cloud of moisture. It had been raining for two days straight before it finally ended. Big drops still dripped from the leaves of the trees only to be lost in the mist. The air was still and heavy, cold enough to cause a deep bone chill to run up the spines of those who ventured out into the night. On the streets were only a few who dared tread out on such a night. Afraid of what may happen in the quiet stillness.

A rumor floated from the underground, one of a predator who hunted at night. Silent with a deadly accuracy that caused even the bravest to fear the dark. The attacks on the village were seemingly random. Men, women and children had been attacked. Left brutalized only to have the elements of nature finish them off, gasping for air that could not enter their lungs. No one could figure out who was committing these horrible acts of violence, nor how to stop it. It seemed that the walls had eyes and the shadows swallowed any evidence to catch a killer.

A low rumble of thunder could be heard from the distance. The storm was not over as the sky began to open once more. At first it was a drizzle, adding moisture to the air then it slowly became a steady downfall. A crash of lightning accompanied by another loud rumble of thunder caused whoever was outside to run for cover.

"Shikamaru get away from that window!" The black haired teen jumped as his mother yelled to him from across the room. He rolled his eyes and turned to sit on his bed. His mother had always been overprotective, but once the murders started happening she basically had him on a leash. "Now go to sleep you have school in the morning!" Shikamaru waved a hand and his mother closed the door, blocking the light from the hall.

Shikamaru looked around his room trying to get his eyes to adjust to the light. He had been stuck in the house for weeks because of the chaos from outside. He went to school and came home, that was what his day consisted of. He was miserable and lonely. He missed his friends; he missed Chouji. His best friend since they were kids had recently turned lover and now he couldn't even see him. The black haired boy lay down on his bed and sighed, He may as well go to sleep, besides, there was nothing else to do anyway.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was dark. There was nothing but the darkness surrounding him. There was no feeling, no noise, just the pitch black with an eerie silence surrounding it. He blinked, trying to get some color into his eyes. The silence was haunting and the loss of sight sent a cold shiver of fear racing through him.

Suddenly, yet slowly, light broke through the darkness. A solitary light in the distance brightened up ahead. It created a circle of light, and like a moth to the flame he walked towards it. In the center lay a dark figure, something he could not make out from that distance. He walked closer to the figure, stopping short when he realized just what it was.

The body lay face down in a pool of dark crimson blood, it spread around the head and shoulders. He walked closer to see that the blood came from a wound on the back of the head. The skull had been split open to reveal the soft tissue underneath. He took in a shaky breath as he stepped away slowly. His shoes now covered in the bodies life source. He took another step back only to realize the icepick that lay next to the man's body. The pick was bloody itself and he could see a piece of flesh that hung from the pointed tip. He felt his stomach churn and he knew he needed to get away from the scene. He turned quickly but was stopped by something wrapping around his ankle. Looking down he saw the thin, bloody fingers of the body. One of the nails hanging off the skin, the others were already missing. He turned his head and looked behind him at the body. It slowly pushed itself up with his free hand and knelt behind him, the other hand gripping the back of his shirt.

"Help me..." The once still body looked up, only black holes where his eyes should have been. The blood dripped from the eye sockets to the now upturned lips. It's grin grew slowly, pulling at the skin and tearing back to show the rotted teeth behind it. It's hands moved up to his waist and gripped the material of his clothes. "He'll get you too boy." There was something of a cackle that broke through the corpses throat. Blood pouring from the sliced skin and bubbling down it neck.

The rancid smell reached his nose with a fury all it's own. He cried out and kicked at the corpse. He was too scared to move or speak as the body once again began to crawl through the pool it had been laying in. He felt his body shake in fear, not able to scream for help as the corpse moved closer.

"Join us. We are lonely here, we need new blood." The flesh and bone hand once again stretched out to him, trying to pull him to the darkness. Finally pushing past the fear, he turned and began to run back into the darkness. His heart thundering in his chest as his blood pumped through his veins.

He felt his feet stop suddenly and fell to the ground. He landed hard and felt his teeth rip through his tongue and he cried out, putting a hand to his mouth to catch the blood. He turned but could not see even an inch in front of his face. He spit out the blood in his mouth and reached towards his feet. He began to claw at whatever was wrapped around his ankles but it would not budge.

"Where do you think you are going? We have just begun my love." He tried to cry out, to scream, but his voice would not be heard. "Do not struggle, it will only hurt more." He struggled violently as he felt something sharp press against his neck. "Such a lovely pale color, but I do think it needs more color, don't you think my love?" He felt the knife quickly slice through the skin of his neck, not deep enough for him to bleed out but enough to drip down his neck and pool at his collar bone. "There that is much better. You are beautiful, yet you are not complete. Your skin is too pale, we need to liven it up a bit." He felt the knife again slicing down his chest, through the shirt and skin. A silent cry erupted from him, his whole body twisting away from the razor sharp blade. "Gorgeous...Yet we must hurry, someone will come soon." He felt a rough tongue lap at his neck in the dark. No face, no eyes, no features just something in the dark. "I wish I could have heard your voice, but you always draw so much attention." There were rough fingers at the wound down his chest, spreading the cut and making it bleed only fro that tongue to attack it again. "We will be together again one day my love but I must go now. Wait for me."

That knife ran up his thigh and over his chest once again. It stopped at over his breastplate and pressed down slightly. A small cut was made only to have the knife leave his skin.

"Goodbye my love." Quickly the knife was jabbed through his chest, the blood spilling over onto the floor. Suddenly the dark was covered by a bright light, the endless scream ringing through his ears only. Only one thing was able to cut through the haze of his mind.

"You are next."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Shikamaru shot up from his bed with a loud cry. A trembling hand over his erratic heart. He had tears streaming down his face and his stomach felt weak and nauseous. He stood up on shaky legs and walked to the joint bathroom. His clothes were sticking to him from the sweat that poured off of him. He flicked on the light and winced as the light penetrated his eyelids.

He moved to the sink, gripping the porcelain with all the strength in his arms. His whole body shaking more from the strain. After a moment of getting used to the light he opened his eyes and looked into the mirror. He was pale, sweaty, and shaking. He turned on the cold water and quickly splashed his face, gasping at the sensation as his lungs tightened.

This was the third night in a row that he had a nightmare like that. In every one, he was attacked by a dead body and then attacked by someone else. The dead body was always different but the man at the end was always the same. And each time he would talk as if they were lovers and then kill him. He could never tell who's eye's he was looking through, whether it was his own death or somebody else, but he was always killed in the end.

He had been losing sleep since the first attack. When he had gone a few days without a nightmare, he had thought it was over but three night's ago he had been proven wrong. He looked into the mirror once again and sighed. He looked like shit, bags under his red, puffy eyes and his heart still hadn't calmed any.

"Shikamaru?" The teen jumped as there was a knock on the outer bedroom door. He quickly dried his face and walked towards the bedroom. Turning off the light he walked to the door and opened it. His dad stood on the opposite side of the door a confused and worried look on his tired face. "Are you alright?" Shikamau blinked and nodded slowly. His father always worked late nights and he didn't look to excited to be woken out of bed at this hour.

"Sorry dad, I didn't mean to wake you I just....I had a...nightmare." He felt foolish even saying it. His dad was a tall man, worked in the factory for 13 hours a day at times. He had scars along his face from accidents and he didn't even blink an eye. A nightmare seemed so childish in the presence of a man such as him. It didn't help that he looked at Shikamaru with those unbelieving eyes. "I couldn't help it." His father's eyes softened and he nodded.

"Are you alright now?" Shikamaru nodded slightly, he was tired and now that his nerves were calming down he just wanted to pass out or throw up, he couldn't decide which. His father nodded and ran a hand over Shikamaru's head then patting his shoulder softly. "Alright. Goodnight kiddo." Shikamaru nodded.

"Night dad." He closed his door with a soft click and made his way over to the window ledge. He knew he wouldn't really be able to fall asleep again so there was no use going to the bed. He sighed as he sat by the window and pulled the curtains back. It was still dark out but it looked like the rain had finally let up. Leaning his forehead against the window he sighed deeply causing the widow to fog. He brought a finger through the fog drawing an image of a star. He leaned back and looked at it for a moment before wiping it away.

There was someone out there attacking and killing people and Shikamaru was having nightmares about a hidden face carving up his victims. There was no way he was going to get any rest tonight.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Shikamaru sat up with a start. His back and neck ached as he sat up from the window. He must of dozed off before the sun rose. Rolling his shoulder's, he stood up and twisted slightly. After the satisfying pop of his back he turned and went to his dresser. He pulled out his clothes and looked over to the clock. There was plenty of time for a shower, good thing too because he had to admit he was smelling rather disgusting after last night.

He walked to the bathroom and brushed his teeth twice just to get rid of the rancid taste in his mouth. After the quick mouth rinse, he shed his clothes and jumped in the shower. He moaned as the hot water ran down his back. It felt so nice to have the grime washed from his body. He ran the shampoo through his hair quickly, scrubbing his scalp and rinsing it out. He was exhausted and he really just wanted to get some sleep. Unfortunately he knew that was out of the question. His mother would interrogate him for hours about what was wrong with him and he was not in the mood.

Getting out of the shower, he threw his hair up into a ponytail and quickly dressed. He opened his bedroom door and walked down the hallway towards the stairs. He stopped for a second at the top of the stairs and sighed. He knew he had bags under his eyes and he just felt all around terrible. He looked down at the steps and slowly descended down the wooden stairs trying to blink his eyes open. When he finally made it down to the bottom, he walked toward the kitchen only to practically be run over by his mother.

"You are not going anywhere! There was another attack last night it's all over the news. Oh god when will they catch this guy? He keeps alluding them and now it was a twenty-six year old man! People are starting to gather in front of the police station to get them to catch this guy." Shikamaru watched his mother's lips flap noisily but he really didn't care enough to hear the words. All that made it through his exhausted and partially insane mind was that another person was murdered. He felt a shudder run down his spine as he turned away from his mother's rambling. Lucky for him when he turned he saw the television on in the livingroom. The news was showing the yellow tape around the crime scene.

"Last night the attack was said to have happened between the hours of 2am and 3am. The police have made a statement saying they will not rest until this serial killer is caught. Locals have given the murderer the name of the 'Late Night Stalker.' Apparently he stalks his prey before he kills them and leaves no usable evidence. Police have asked that the town have a curfew of 10pm until this killer is caught. If anyone has any new information please contact the police...." Shikamaru couldn't help but roll his eyes as he turned from the t.v. The last time they had sent out a town curfew was years before his dad was born and that hadn't solved anything. All this was going to do was get more people killed. People tended to break the rules and this wouldn't be any different.

"This is ridiculous, a curfew for a whole town? It won't work, this guy will never be caught if the fucking police just run from him forever." Shikamaru looked at his father and nodded slightly, the man had a point.

"Don't start Shikaku! You know they are only doing it to protect the people of this town." Shikaku rolled his eyes but learned long ago not to argue with his wife. "Shikamaru, you looked exhausted, why don't you go back to sleep baby. I'm not allowing you out of the house until this person is caught." Shikamaru looked at her and shook his head.

"But mom!" She gave him a look and Shikamaru sighed turning to walk back up the stairs. He was too tired to argue. As he walked back to his room he could hear his parents argue over his well being. Shaking his head again he slammed his door shut and went to his bed. Laying down he closed his eyes and prayed for a dreamless sleep.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Shikamaru looked at the lone tree and slowly walked over to it. There was an old tire swing that hung from one of the many branches. He spun the tire once and smiled slightly. He remembered coming up here when he was in middle school, he and Chouji. They would run up here and take turns on the tire swinging for all they were worth. When they had enough of the

spinning sky, they would lay next to each other under the tree and stare at the clouds. It had been a great time in his life, fun and carefree.

He sat on the tire and swung for a few moments enjoying the breeze. He could hear a few birds in the distance, it made him smile.

"Hey Shika!" Shikamaru allowed an even wider smile as he heard his name.

"Chouji," He stood up and hugged the taller boy giving him a soft kiss. "I've missed you, my mom's having heart failure over this curfew and everything." Chouji nodded and sat down on the grass.

"You can't really blame her can you? I mean this is kind of scary, some psycho attacking random people at night and no one knows a thing. It doesn't make a lot of sense." Shikamaru sat next to Chouji and grabbed his hand. "You're safe Shika, I won't let anything happen to you." Sikamaru shook his head in slight confusion.

"Don't worry I'll be fine." There was an awkward silence and Shikamaru looked back over to his boyfriend. His hand in a vice-like grip. "Chou...?"

"Don't be too sure on that." Shikamaru pulled his hand away quickly as the voice of his lover grew deeper. "You can never be too sure of anything no matter how smart you are." Shikamaru jumped up and looked down at Chouji who hadn't moved a muscle.

"Who are you? Keep Chouji out of this!" Chouji finally looked up and grinned, his eyes were now black sockets. Blood pouring down his cheeks. "No!" Shikamaru backed away, tears in his eyes as the thing stood, that was not Chouji no matter how much it looked like him. "Stop it! You are not Chouji!" The creature grinned, razor sharp teeth poking between cracked lips. "You keep him out of this! You can't have him!" Shikamaru continued to back up as the thing came closer. It reached out and as it did the skin of his fingers began to melt off and sizzle in a puddle on the grass. White bone poked out and reached for Shikamaru.

"Join me Shikamaru. We can be happy forever here." Shikamaru was scared out of his mind but he was also angry, very angry.

"You're not Chouji you fucker! Leave him out of this!" The creature laughed as the skin of it's face melted off leaving a grinning skeleton. "What are you?" The thing laughed as it moved closer, skin hanging to it's bones like shredded clothing.

"I'm here for you of course. You are next." Shikamaru turned and began to run at the laughing creature. Running as fast as he could he tripped over a root on the hill and tumbled down

roughly. When he sat up he was no longer on the hill but what looked to be an abandoned burned out house. It was dark, but there was just enough light to see. It looked to be a small bedroom, the bed pushed in the corner was black with soot. There was only one wooden dresser and a chair,

both burned badly. The rest of the room was empty, on the walls there was burned wallpaper though some patches were still intact. The wallpaper seemed to be of little rainbows and stars, a child's room.

Shikamaru shook his head in fear. He turned quickly to find a door but there wasn't one in sight. He felt his pulse pound behind his ears as his body began to shake in fear.

"LET ME OUT!" He heard a soft chuckle and turned once again towards the bed. On the burned out mattress lay the creature. His skin was now almost completely gone and the blood was now black and congealed in his eye sockets with a little dripping onto the bed.

"Will you not join me?" The creature patted the bed but then shook it's head. It sat up and began to laugh again. "It's no matter I have plenty of friends to help me." Shikamaru screamed as out of the walls poked the faces of screaming men, women and children. All of them were missing their eyes and were screaming loudly. Shikamaru fell to his knees and cried out covering his ears at the earth shattering cries of the dead.

Blood began to drip from the walls and pool on the wooden floor. Shikamaru screamed out as the walls began to close in on him, the creature once again walking closer. He felt the slime of the rotting flesh brush his skin and screamed as loud as he could.

"NO!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"NO!" Shikamaru struggled greatly with the hands on his shoulders.

"Shika! Calm down it's me! It's Chouji! Please Shika listen to my voice love." Shikamaru stopped struggling and opened his eyes slowly. Standing over him was his long time best friend and lover. "God, Shikamaru, are you alright? You scared the shit out of me." Shikamaru looked up at the chubby cheeks of his boyfriend and felt tears of relief as he sat up quickly and hugged him.

"Chouji!" He felt a large hand in his hair and let the rumble of the other man's voice calm his nerves.

"It's ok love I'm here just calm down ok? It's ok nothing's going to get you." Shikamaru's grip tightened as his body shivered. "There has to be a way of stopping these dreams. They are killing you, slowly but surely." Shikamaru rested his head against Chouji's chest, his nerves rattling. "It's going to be ok Shika." It took another few minutes for Shikamaru to stop shivering as Chouji mumbled sweet nothings in his ear. Finally Shikamaru looked up to his boyfriend and smiled slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Chouji smiled and shrugged slightly.

"Well I called and your mom told me you weren't going anywhere soon so I decided to come and check on you myself." The brown haired boy continued to rub comforting circles on his lover's back. "Are you alright now? Was it the same dream?" Shikamaru shrugged slightly and lay back on the bed, Chouji following.

"It always ends the same no matter how it starts, there is always something after me. I think I'm going crazy." Chouji frowned slightly and shook his head.

"Well maybe just knowing there is a murderer around is what is upsetting you. You are not crazy, perhaps you're just concerned for the people you care about? I don't know, I'm not into that whole dream analysis thing." Shikamaru shrugged and threw an arm over his lovers chest.

"I'm glad you came, even though I am a bit surprised that your dad let you out." Chouji laughed softly and ran a hand through the shorter boys ponytail.

"I'm not caged in my house, though my dad did give me some shit. Actually I think I got more of a verbal lashing from your mom then anything else." Shikamaru smirked and nodded, his nose rubbing against the soft material of his lovers shirt.

"Yeah sorry about her but she won't even let me open a window let alone go outside right now. I'm surprised she let you in actually. I'm pretty sure she'd lock my dad out at this rate. She always had a hard time trusting people, this is just going to make my life more of a living hell. Yay for me." Chouji smirked and looked over at the other boy giving him a soft kiss.

"Well I'm very glad she let me in. I've missed you." Shika leaned forward and caught the soft yet slightly chapped lips in another, deeper kiss.

"Trust me I've missed you more then words can say." They shared a look before going for one another's lips once again. Shifting positions for better access to each others skin, they kissed with a slowly burning passion that always seemed to erupt from their souls. Chouji now lay over the black haired boy, hands skimming under Shikamaru's shirt to feel the soft skin. The younger boy groaned as a hand brushed over his nipples forcing them into hardness. His own hands worked their way under the bigger teens shirt pushing it up as they explored one another's bodies and mouths.

"Christ, Shika...Your parents..." Shikamaru smirked and quickly pulled at Chouji's shirt. The material was dropped over the edge of the bed.

"What about them? I've been suffering from these nightmares, I need you to fuck my body into exhaustion so I won't have any dreams. I'll be quiet, I just need you right now." Chouji's face, flushed as it was from kissing, now grew brighter from the words. Shika smirked as long fingers made their way over soft rounded skin. "Do you want me to beg?" Chouji groaned as his head dropped to the younger males neck.

"I would love to hear you beg in all honesty but I don't really think I can wait long enough to tease you. I want you so badly." They kissed once again before Chouji pulled at the offending article of fabric that blocked their naked chests from touching. Their kisses became slightly more frantic as the electricity of their heated skin touched. Pulling apart was hard as they needed oxygen but also needed one another's lips. Chouji groaned as Shikamaru thrust his hips up, causing a wonderful friction to both parties. "God, Shika..."

"We need to get these clothes off." It was said breathlessly and seemed to have an interesting effect on Chouji's libido. The older boy quickly went for his love's jeans while his kisses moved down the slender neck. Nibbling on the juncture of Shikamaru's neck and shoulder, the jeans were pushed down far enough to be kicked off. "Your jeans, Chouji." Chouji nodded as he attacked the button of his own pants. Shikamaru leaned forward to help with the act wanting to see everything. It only took mere seconds before they were kissing once again, now naked skin pressed against each other. The heat was almost unbearable as hands skimmed across planes of hard muscle and soft flesh.

"Shika...need you..." Shikamaru was more then willing as he moaned into his lovers neck, gripping at the long brown hair. There was a moment of breathless motion as they moved together, hips aligned in heated movement, almost enough for completion.

"Cho...wait, need..." It was difficult to complete full thoughts let alone actually speak. Both men seemed to be in the same position as no more words were spoken. It took only a few moments to find something to ease the pain of entrance. Once prepared by fingers alone, Shikamaru was spread out like a sacrifice for his lover's taking. It was with the light of the sun shining on them that they joined. Their bodies moving together, panting one another's names as their sweat mingled and their breath shared. Nails dug into skin as fingers created bruises to later be idolized and caressed. Their dance did not last long, their passion to strong to be held. It was with a final thrust and a low whimper that both men were satisfied and collapsed in a tangle of limbs.

"Shikamaru?" mentioned boy just smiled as his breathing slowed. Chouji kissed his nose and then lips lightly. "Rest, I will be here to wake you up if anything should happen." Shikamaru nodded just slightly and closed his eyes, falling asleep to his lovers gentle, caressing fingers.