Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wish I did though.

Summary: Forced into a dream reality, Ryan must find his way out and alive. With his past catching up with him and Eric along for the ride, getting home seems harder by the minute. But what other mysteries must Ryan uncover while in this alternate reality? What exactly is Kendrel's secret and how does it affect Ryan?

A/N: I know, I'm horribly slow, but school is almost over so I'll be updating more when I get it. But today you get three chapters!

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Chapter 3

It felt like they had been walking through the forest for days, but then again, Ryan noted, the sun never set. They had stopped to rest several times and his leg was starting to feel better, just a little sore. He sighed as they stopped once again to rest.

"I've just noticed something," Eric commented as he took off his jacket. "We haven't had to stop for food, and I don't feel hungry."

Ryan nodded. "I was thinking that too, it has to go along with the reason why the sun doesn't set." He shrugged as he slowly sat down, taking the weight off of his healing, but still sore, ankle. A slight silence followed and Ryan knew that Eric was itching to talk. He wanted to clear the air, but Ryan also knew that Eric would have many questions that he really didn't want to answer. "Go ahead," Ryan sighed.

Eric blinked and looked over at the younger man. "What?"

"Go ahead and ask the questions that are plaguing you. I know you want to." Eric blinked then took a minute to think about what he should ask first. He didn't want to get Ryan upset right away.

"Well, who attacked us?" Eric looked at Ryan but noticed that he didn't return his gaze, his eyes were locked on the dirt in front of him.

"Praxon," Ryan said quietly. "He's a demon, obviously, I mean, I guess I found a few other things too, but-"

"Ryan," Eric said gently. "You're rambling again."

"Right, sorry, I do that when I'm nervous." Ryan took a breath. "I know you read the report and all that, but it obviously doesn't give the whole story. I was thirteen, and I went downstairs to get something to eat, or something. I knew that my parents would be awake, they were always up before I was. My mom had a routine, so as to not upset my OCD, it was pretty bad at that time." Ryan looked up, leaning his head back. "I think, think that I saw my mom die. I saw her look at me, then her eyes kinda lost their light."

Eric watched Ryan, knowing that he didn't have to be telling him any of this, but also knew that it was something that he probably needed to do. His hand moved and slowly rested on top of Ryan's, letting him know that he was here.

"My parents were both on the ground, dead, and then I heard him coming out of the kitchen. I looked up and felt myself frozen to the floor. I don't know how, but I somehow managed to fight him off, and next thing I knew I was running down the sidewalk with an aching pain in my shoulder. One of the neighbors must have called the police because I thought I saw them when I was running. Those moments are fuzzy for me, I really don't remember much at all, but I eventually found myself by the airport. I must have looked horrible," Ryan chuckled humorlessly. "Some couple passed me and the woman stopped and knelt down in front of me. I didn't hear a thing she said, I just stared at her, and next thing I knew her husband was putting some money in my pocket. They asked me if I had any family around, and I don't know why I said it, but I said that I had some in Nevada. They bought my ticket and then I was down in Henderson, it's about twenty minutes away from Las Vegas."

"I don't know if I can picture you anywhere near Vegas," Eric said, hoping to lighten the mood a little. A smile formed when he heard Ryan chuckle slightly.

"You say that now, but you didn't know when I was younger. My friend down there, Greg, he let me crash with him for a little bit. I don't mean that I knew him before I was down there, He actually caught me walking around on his way home from school one day. We talked on the way home and he brought me in and told his parents that I was from his class." Ryan nodded a little and smiled. "He was trying to be a rebel teenager, but failing at it. I liked that about him, he kind of had this 'I don't care' attitude."

Ryan grabbed a stick from the ground and started tracing designs in the dirt. "While he went to school, I found some odd jobs to do, make some of my own money. When I was sixteen I was able to trick a landlord into thinking that I was old enough to get my own apartment. I was actually pretty cunning back then, I mean, it wasn't that long ago, but still. Greg and his boyfriend, Nick, helped me manage my OCD, too. I really owe them a lot, especially Greg. I still keep in touch with him sometimes, he's actually a lab rat at the Crime Lab in Las Vegas, Nick is a CSI. I find it ironic that they work at the same place."

Now Ryan turned his head to look at Eric. "Now I'm going to anticipate the question you really want to know. Why couldn't you find any information about me in any public records, right?" Eric blinked, caught a little off guard and could only nod. "Those files you had were the original police report of my parents case. After two years they couldn't find anything, then suddenly the lead Detectives die and the papers get lost in the shuffle, then go missing." Eric raised an eyebrow, having worked a desk job while he was recovering he knew all about the process of files. "I found them, when I was eighteen, and I kept them."

"It was hard convincing Greg to believe me when I told him about their murder. I showed him my shoulder, then the pictures and report. I think it really took him a while but he eventually believed me when he went to look up my personal records in the National Database. He said that someone had red flagged my information, so in a few hours, we eradicated any existence of my name and files. Ryan Michael Wolfe no longer exists."

"Wait, you stole your own files, erased your own information?" Eric's brow was creased in confusion.

"You looked through the files, Eric, the only thing you saw was that they thought they saw me running from the scene. The only thing for sure was that I was missing. Someone had already gone through the trouble of making it hard for the police never to find out about me, or that I was their son. And I was pretty sure that the government or any officials were looking for me; I ran from the scene, they either thought I was another victim or a suspect. It was Praxon, the one who killed my parents."

"You know, I can't say that my life has been boring in the past year," Eric mumbled under his breath. "And if I hadn't just met that demon, I'd say that you were insane. What did you do after Henderson?"

"I went to California for a couple years, then came to Miami. I had decided that no one was going to find me, unless I wanted to be found. I obviously wasn't able to stay hidden enough, I mean look at the hell I've raised in the last year."

Eric snorted. "I wouldn't really say that you've raised hell. You've just, led an interesting life so far. And you've managed to solve multiple murders, even though the last we weren't really able to catch her." Eric shook his head a little as subconsciously his hand was rubbing Ryan's own hand.

Ryan sighed a little and shook his head. "Was there anything else you wanted to ask me right now?"

Eric thought for a moment then nodded. "Are you still angry at me?" He asked, knowing that Ryan had every right to say yes. Ryan was silent for a while and Eric was starting to think that maybe he shouldn't have even asked.

"No," Eric blinked and looked at Ryan, shocked at the answer. "I know I should be, and I was for a while, but I just can't be angry with you right now." Ryan looked at Eric with a slight smirk. "Now, Kendrel I'm still mad at. I won't even call her Kandy." Eric snorted with laughter and shook his head. They sat in silence for a few more minutes, letting all the information sink in, and just enjoying the moment of peace.

"You know, maybe this place is good for me," Ryan chuckled lightly and Eric raised an eyebrow.

"How so?" He couldn't help but asking at the set up.

"Well, my OCD hasn't really been on my mind lately. I haven't had any big impulses lately, it's actually kind of refreshing." Ryan shrugged and smiled a little.

"I'm happy for you, but there's no way that I'm staying here," Eric protested.

Ryan chortled and shook his head slightly. "Don't worry, I have no intention of staying here at all. I was just thinking that it's been nice to not have to deal with any of my routines." Ryan leaned his head over so that it was leaning on Eric's shoulder. His eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my god, who's feeding Puff?"

Eric stared at Ryan for a moment then started to laugh. Ryan shot a glare up towards Eric.

"Don't worry about your cat, Ryan, she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She's made that clear in the past year, she can even take care of you sometimes." Ryan nodded a little.

"Yeah, I guess your right. If Kendrel doesn't get over there I'm pretty sure she knows how to get into the food cabinet."

"Well, and maybe we'll be able to get out here soon, so she won't have to suffer without her wonderful master for long." Eric smirked and Ryan smiled.

"Now you're just sucking up."

"And what if I am?" Eric questioned, raising an eyebrow in query.

"Well, it might be working," Ryan admitted.

Eric smiled slightly and moved, slowly tilting Ryan's head up by the chin. "Tell me if this works." He leaned down and lightly touched his lips to Ryan's.

Ryan's eyes widened slightly, but he pushed back before Eric could pull away. "I think you need to do it a couple more times to see if that technique really works."

Eric smiled as he captured Ryan's lips in a couple more gentle kisses. He went in for a third kiss when Ryan pulled away suddenly. "Did I do something wrong?" Eric's eyebrows knit together.

Ryan shook his head a little and looked at the ground. He then looked up at Eric with a slight frown on his face. "I just, I have to know something." He took a breath and hesitated, opening then closing his mouth. "Are you doing this because you want to, or because there's a possibility that we won't remember a thing when we get out of wherever we are? Or because there's the possibility that I'm not even real to you? Or because-" Eric silence Ryan from rambling more with his lips, kissing him slowly.

"Does that answer your question?" Eric asked softly, their foreheads touching. Ryan nodded and smiled gently.

"It kind of does, but it makes me happy." Ryan lifted his eyes to meet Eric's.

"Oh, no. We can't have you being happy now can we?" Ryan and Eric broke away with wide eyes to stare at the intruder.