Don't ask me what is going on with this story. I really don't know, but I like it so I'm rolling with it!
Warning: Talk of suicide. Talk of going insane. More added as story is updated.
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Shutting the door to his house behind him Manfred brushed his hand against his arm as he leaned his head against the door. A part of him wanted nothing more than to go back inside, crawl into bed, and fall into a nice coma.
He had been feeling so tired lately. Which was odd considering just how much sleep he was getting. Not to brag or anything, but he had officially reached four hours a night. It hadn't helped though. He still felt as if he was going to pass out more often than not.
He couldn't explain it. Though there was a lot of things that he couldn't explain happening in Midnight at that moment. Actually there was one thing happening in Midnight that he couldn't explain. Nothing.
As bad as it sounded he had gotten used to having some big bad come into the town once a week and try to kill them all. It was the system that was in place now that the veil was starting to unravel. It wasn't a good system, but it was still the system.
The fact that it had been so long since anyone new had shown up put him and everyone else on edge. Okay, so it put him on edge. To everyone else it was rather normal to have nothing be happening in the place.
He was the new person in the town and so far his experience there was filled with beings that wanted him and everyone else dead. Based off the stories that everyone else told though that wasn't the town at all.
It was peaceful and quiet. The type of place you went when you wanted the world to stop spinning for awhile. People lived there to escape the bad that had already happened in their lives away from Midnight. It was a safe haven.
At least it was supposed to be. The veil fraying meant that every bad creature that had ever existed was coming there and that they had to fight to keep it the haven that they all wanted. Everything being quiet wasn't much of a fight. It was the calm before the storm.
Not that he had told anyone else his concern. He wanted so badly that he was just being paranoid. That he just needed to relax a little and enjoy the peace that they had while it lasted. It wouldn't stay this way for long.
His paranoia was not helped any by the diary he was reading. For some odd reason reading entry after entry of his ancestors going mad made him feel like he was going to start to follow their footsteps. Manfred snorted at that his nails scratching at his forearm.
The last thing that he was going to do was go insane like they did. Especially since they all went insane because they were seeing things. He wasn't seeing anything. At all. He hadn't seen a single thing in days.
Even when Midnight was at its quietest it wasn't quiet to him. There were still spirits everywhere. It was the same no matter where he went. It was just a perk of being a psychic that could see the dead. You never stopped seeing.
Midnight, unsurprisingly, was filled to the brim with ghosts. A lot of them ignored him and went about their undead lives like it was completely normal. They even had a little community of their own. A handful of those ghosts would even greet him like it was just another day.
There were also a few that were like every other ghost he had ever met. They'd figure out that he could see them and then start to yell and scream for his attention. They were the ones that would do the normal everyday 'look I'm a ghost' type of haunting.
Then there were the special ones. The spirits of the people that lived and died in Midnight that hated what it stood for even in death. The whole point of their haunting was to tell him just how wrong his and the rest of their lives were and how all of them would burn in hell. Those were fun.
Manfred couldn't believe that he actually missed seeing those spirits. The whole town had just gone completely quiet though. It felt wrong to not be able to see them. He truly hated every second of being so… Normal.
Which was ironic since he had wanted to be normal for so long. He had thought that that was what he should go after. That if he woke up and didn't have his powers one day that his life would finally get better. How wrong he was.
Yes, he hated his powers sometimes but without them he felt as if he had lost a part of who he was. It was as if for the first time he was no longer Manfred Bernardo. He really needed to stop saying his full name like that.
As he stood there he felt a shiver run down his spine causing him to tighten his jacket around himself. A familiar weight had taken up residence on his shoulders and he couldn't help but savor it for a moment.
It felt as if someone was standing just behind him. The feeling was one that Manfred had long since gotten used to. It happened every time a spirit was around. A little forewarning that stopped him from jumping out of his skin.
Standing up fully the psychic turned around slowly not knowing what he was going to see. The last thing he expected was to see no one. His nails dug at his forearm through his jacket as he looked around trying to find someone.
Shaking his head he turned back to face the door wondering if maybe the spirit would talk to him if they weren't being looked at. After a moment of standing there though no one spoke. He was alone. Manfred felt more than a little frustrated. He could feel a spirit, but he couldn't see them.
Steeling him to not see anyone he turned around again pulling his jacket closer as he started towards Home Cookin'. It would never not surprise him just how quickly the temperature dropped when the sun went down. It was like he was in a totally different place when it was night time.
Still, right after the sun went down was when the town was most active. Mostly because it was when Lem first woke up. It was a little bit of a tradition that they would all met at the restaurant once the vampire was awake and go over what happened that day. Not that there was anything to tell.
"Manfred," Lem greeted walking up to him with Olivia and Fiji, "Enjoying the new found peace?"
"Peace?" he laughed scratching at his forearm.
"See?" Olivia smirked crossing her arms and moving to his side, "Psychic boy gets it."
"Oh, you two," Fiji shook her head in amusement, "You don't have to be so paranoid all the time. Sometimes a quiet week is just a quiet week. Anyway, we deserve it after everything that's been happening."
"And sometimes," Manfred offered opening the door to the restaurant for them, "The universe is lulling you into a false sense of security so it could laugh all the harder when it kicks you in the balls."
Laughing along with Olivia he watched as the other two brushed past him and went to the backroom. It shouldn't be as amusing to teas them as it was but sometimes it was too easy. Based off the smile on the assassin's lips she agreed with him on that.
"Come on," she smirked motioning with her head, "Dinner time."
"Buying me dinner?" the psychic teased as they followed the other two, "Are you trying to tell me something?"
"Fiji, he's onto the plan. If we don't kill him now no stew for winter."
"He's too skinny," Fiji waved her hand at them not bothering to look back, "We'll have to wait until next year."
Olivia shrugged as she passed him her eyes trailing over him suggestively. He couldn't help but snort as he fell into the chair between to Emilio and Chuy. The men nodded their greetings as they continued their conversations they were already in.
For a moment the man just sat there listening to the noise going on around him. He wasn't really a fan of hearing everyone talking at once, but sometimes it was rather nice to just sit there and not have to think or do anything.
"Are you alright over there, Manfred?" Chuy questioned looking at him with barely concealed concern.
"Of course," he replied calmly turning to the man, "Why do you ask?"
"You've been scratching at your arm since you sat down."
Blinking a few times he looked down at his arm and saw that that man's words were true. He was scratching at his forearm though his jacket. Slowly he pulled his hand away and placed it on the table trying not to notice how both he and the Reverend were watching him now.
"Dry skin," came the lie before he could even think of an answer.
The demon stared at him for a moment before nodding his head and turning back to his lover. Emilio though continued to stare at him for a moment seeing straight though the lie. Manfred was almost completely positive that the man was going to call him on it, but instead he stared.
"Fiji has a wonderful balm that might be able to help," Emilio offered after a heavy moment.
Nodding his head Manfred thanked every god and goddess he knew that Madonna decided to show up at that moment with food. He did think he could handle having those piercing eyes on him anymore.
As he ate he made sure not to look at the other man. Though he felt the man staring at him no matter what he did. It was like he was watching him for some sign that he was going to do something stupid or crazy.
He couldn't take sitting there under the microscope any longer. As soon as he was done eating he was on his feet saying that he needed to go home. Which got him some more looks, but they didn't really question him on that
He felt more than a little shaky as he left the restaurant, but he had to get away from the Reverend's eyes. With a shake of his head the man forced himself to calm down and started his way home his hand coming up to scratch at his arm once more.