The raven haired teen struggled slightly to roll the body onto the wooden stretcher and with one last grunt he managed to roll the corpse onto the bed and he put up the rail guards so the body wouldn't roll off. Alex put the shovel on the bottom of the stretcher and started to push the bed out the morgue, shutting the door with his foot and headed to the back door which was just a simple screen door. Out in the cold two a.m. air made Alex shiver till it felt like his bones rattled and he grabbed the lantern that was on an old rusty hook before placing it on the front of the stretcher and resumed forward to the O section. Alex rolled to a stop, kicking a rock to wedge the wheel from moving forward and having the body roll away from him, crouching down to grab the shovel he stood back up, cursing himself for forgetting his gloves, but he started his work away a couple feet away from the "Oldens" grave and he pushed his foot down on the ledge and felt it sink into the half was frozen dirt.
Morning rays started to peak from the East; Alex still digging, paid no mind to it; he was tired and cold and wanted nothing more to crawl in bed to sleep his life away, but nooo, his boss was a complete ass to him around the clock daily. Huffing he stabbed at the ground forcefully only getting his shovel stuck, growling out a line of curses as he tugged to get the piece of metal out.
You're not warm when it comes to this job, are you?" A silken voice chuckled lightly.
Alex snapped his gaze up and wildly looked around the isolated area that only held bodies of the dead or their remains of a body, "Who's there?" He growled as he crawled out of the hole and looked around a second time to see if anyone was hiding behind tombstones, seeing nothing he shrugged before turning back to the hole he dug and this time hearing a chuckle behind, whipping around he came face to face with the sight of ginger hair, this time the male had his eyes open, his eyes were a perfect blend of dark and light amber, his pupils slit like a cats.
"Well good morning to you too." The man chirped happily grinning.
"Oh. My. God." Alex gasped, "OHMAIGOD, YOU'RE ALIVE? B-BUT Y-YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" The teen shrieked loudly and swung at the ginger haired male who merely caught the end of the metal as if it were nothing.
"So you really want me dead by beheading me?" The ginger asked slightly offended, but amusement covered the annoyed tone, "Too adorable." He mused.
Alex ripped the shovel out of the man's grasp and held it like a baseball bat, "Who the hell are you?"
The slight elder man gave Alex a Cheshire like grin, "I my dear, am Mason Owens and may I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" He introduced.
Alex hesitated for a moment, "I'm Alexander Hale, but most call me Alex. Please tell me, am I lacking so much sleep where I think a corpse has risen back from the dead and started having a conversation with me?" He almost begged.
Mason laughed and brushed the strand hair out of his face before replying, "No my dear Alex you are not. I am what you call a gifted person that refuses to die and they are reborn."
The younger stood dumbfounded at the other, "I don't believe in witchcraft."
"Ah, but it's not. I'm a phoenix, a being that can die and be reborn from the ashes." Mason waved his hand in the cold air in a dramatic effect. A sly smile crept on his face at Alex's still shocked expression, "Now you resemble them here that sleep under the dirty covers."
Alex shut his mouth that was still hanging slightly open, "I'm just going to leave you here for a bit and return an hour later after I had a nice hot cup of tea from Molly and see that I was crazy when I come back to see you back to your dead self." The teen said randomly and dropped his shovel to the ground, casting one glance at Mason and shivered when he saw the man wave at him in farewell.
True to Alex's word he returned to see the same stretcher with an unmoving body on top of it and he sighed in relief; the tea had helped him back to sanity and he hummed a happy tune as he walked over back to the grave hole and picked up the shovel, "And I thought you were alive." Alex laughed.
Oh, but I am." Mason smirked and opened his eyes, close enough to Alex he reached out and took a thin piece of Alex's hair in between his thumb and middle finger a content sigh escaped his lips, "For a grave keeper, your hair hasn't faded into an unhealthy shade of grey from fright."
Alex smacked his hand away and inched back quickly, 'Okay, I've SERIOUSLY lost it..."The young teen thought as be backed up against a rotted tree and stared at Mason like he was the Queen standing before him, "Just breathe Alex, it'll just be a dream when you fucking open your eyes!" He shouted or more like chanted to himself loudly.
Mason frowned and slowly got up in the sitting position, luckily he still had pants on, but he was shirtless, "In so much denial that you can't believe that a living phoenix is sitting here, talking to you, risen back from the grave?" The elder questioned with a slight cock to his head.
Alex quickly shook his head 'no', "Because you aren't real! Things like you don't exist!" The teen exclaimed.
Mason scowled, "Then how do you think I came back to life then, mortal?" He growled. The phoenix raised a brow at Alex's quiet response, "Well?"
"I'm not sure what to say..." Alex muttered, "But won't people try to kill you if they find out that you can come back to life on your own?" The young grave keeper asked, he wondered why he felt so concerned with this man already when he hardly knew himspan./span
Mason too caught the worried tone and he chuckled, "Your care for everyone it quite endearing young one, I find it adorable."
Alex scowled, "Shut up! I just...worry about other peopling being slaughtered for no reason; it's not fair to those people."
Mason nodded in understanding, "It is quite unfair for those that are killed when they are innocent. I'm glad you see that in my prospective too." The ginger moved off the stretcher and walked around for a moment, he caught Alex's confused stare on him, "What is young Alexander?"
"Aren't you cold?" The teen asked as he stared at the taller. Alex caught himself staring for a bit too long and he looked away with a red face that wasn't only caused from the cold.
"No, I possess more body heat than the average person, but you most know that since I am not human." Mason chuckled.
The younger merely nodded in agreement, "So where are you going to go then?" Alex asked when he finally got enough courage to face the elder; his dark blue eyes held worry with other mixed emotions, "If you go, will I never see you again?" He added more silently.
Mason caught the quiet comment and he blinked a few times, "I'll still be around; I have a home for myself just a couple miles away from this place."
The younger nodded with a small smile plastered on his face, "Then I guess that isn't so bad." Alex sighed after a few minutes when he looked up into the sky, the sun was hardly up in the sky, darkness still loomed in some parts of the sky, "What am I going to say to Mr. Granger? Sorry Mr. Granger, but the body that you gave me to bury came to life somehow so I left him next to his grave so he could wander the world." He said sarcastically.
The ginger haired man laughed, "Your sarcasm tells me you use it a lot, no?"
"All the time." Alex laughed and slowly inched closer to Mason, keeping enough space just in case the elder was actually a demon and decided to attack him. He threw Mason a careful look before shoving the shovel into the mound of dirt and started to throw it back into the hole.
"What are you doing?" Mason asked when the younger started to fill the hole back up, "You just dug that for nothing, throw something in there so you feel somewhat accomplished."
Alex just snorted, "I'm used to it." He continued to throw the remaining dirt back into its same spot, brushing the sweat off his forehead, "You can leave you know. I'll still be here if you need me."
Mason thought for a moment, "You hate your job, your boss is a dick, and you obviously hardly talk to those who work with you so why don't you come with me? I can find you better job for you that doesn't make you hate your life." He said seriously, no hint of smile or anything.
"I can't just leave out of the blue." Alex stated matter-of-factly, "I have a nice home here and others that I know and some depend on me."
"More like using you." The ginger snorted, "But seriously, the place I live at is more welcoming and better for you than this place. This is the worst place to be in England."
"Any place is bad with the plague." Alex corrected as he patted down the earth. Sucking in need air he turned around to face Mason who was frowning, "What? I just can't leave and live with you in a fairy tale."
"My life isn't a fairy tale thank you very much." Mason replied heatedly, his amber eyes glinted angrily.
"Geez sorry, I didn't know you were touchy about fairy tales." Alex grumbled, "But can we talk about this some other time?"
"Why? Still don't believe me?" Mason scoffed, still clearly offended.
"No, I'm tired and the most sleep I've gather over the past week all together is about three hours of sleep." The raven haired teen grouched. Alex shoved the shovel under the bed on wheels and turned off the lantern that was still burning, "Shit...now I have to put more oil in it."
Mason cocked his head to one side and now that he took in the rest of Alex's appearance he saw the dark circles under those favorite blue eyes that he now adored, his clothes were dirt stained mixed with sweat and honestly the younger teen looked like he was dead on his feet, "Okay then...Just meet me back here around sun down."
Alex just nodded, thanking his only lucky star that the demon or phoenix, whatever the hell he was, was letting him go home to shower and sleep. He painfully pushed the stretcher through the grass until he came to the sloppy sidewalk; glancing over his shoulder he tiredly raised a hand in farewell to Mason.
"Good bye and good night, my dear Alex." Mason mused as wings of pure gold started to form from his back and he gave a leap into the air before taking off into the early morning sun.
The raven haired teen almost cried tears of joy when he opened his door and he quickly ripped off his coat, shoes, and scarf and threw them next to the door; he'd pick them up later and he walked to his bathroom, wondering if he should even bother washing up, "Would I die if I fell?" He wondered out loud and just shrugged before taking off his dirty clothes and throwing them in the corner, he'd pick those up too. Stepping into the shower and the feel of the hot water run down his body felt great, shivers pulsed through his body from the sudden heat, but he enjoyed every moment of it, rinsing out his hair he saw the dark earth swirl down into the drainer mixed with grass and other things that Alex didn't want to think about. He combed out his soaking hair and dried it off as he finished drying off his body and wrapped the towel around his waist, making his way to his room to grab a pair of clean boxers. Alex sighed contently as he laid back down on his bed, snuggling deep into the blankets he desired most. He blinked open his blue hues and thought about Mason, 'Was he really real?' The teen thought silently, sighing tiredly he let his eyes slip close once more before the sleep consumed him.