Shinigami-cat: Well, I don't really have much to say here except I regret nothing also… I OWN NOTHING!

Cottage

Gilbert could help but be a little worried about going to Matthew's house late at night, but he brushed that fear aside. It was childish to feel that way about those fears. He was pretty sure that Matthew wouldn't do anything like that to him.

As they walked down the path it became darker and darker. Gilbert was worried that he wouldn't be able to see. Just when he thought everything was going to go pitch black a small light appeared in the distance. It got larger as it got closer until Gilbert could clearly see what it was. It looked like a lamp post, but it had a foot at the base and a hand at the top holding an oil lamp. It hopped over to the pair and stood there. When they caught up to it, the lamp would hop a few paces ahead and wait for them to catch up.

"What's this thing?" Asked Gilbert curiously.

Matthew chuckled. "It's just a street lamp. They hops along the paths at night looking for people to help. During the day you'll find random oil lamps all around the place. It's pretty cool."

Gilbert nodded in agreement. The walking lamp was pretty cool. "Yeah…"

As they continued to walk along with the hopping lamp they came across a cottage. The roof was made of straw, the walls were covered in some kind of white plaster and there was a large vegetable patch near the white picket fence. It was quite nice.

"So you live here?" He asked.

Matthew nodded and walked over to the front door, opening it. "Yep. It's a nice place to live, I hardly ever stay the night here though… Lately I've been staying at doing a lot more work for Francis so…"

Gilbert shrugged and followed Matthew inside. His house was modestly decorated like that of the outside. It was pretty cool. He liked it. Gilbert smiled a little and followed Matthew into the kitchen.

The blond was looking though his cupboard that seemed to be stocked with nothing but bottles of some kind of brown liquid. As he was looking through it, Gilbert couldn't help but watch Matthew's tale twitch slightly as he moved. It was almost hypnotizing to watch it twitch. Gilbert was almost tempted to reach out and squeeze it.

He shook those thoughts out of his mind. 'What the hell is wrong with me? I'm going crazy or something.'

Suddenly Matthew turned around with a bottle of the brown liquid and two cups. "Want a drink?"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

Matthew chuckled a little and poured the liquid into two cups and passed one to Gilbert. "It's called maple ale, it's just like maple syrup but it isn't as think. Still just as sweet though."

"Never had maple syrup before." Muttered Gilbert.

Matthew raised an eyebrow. "Really? People usually have it with pancakes… I'm sure you'll like it."

Gilbert sniffed the liquid a little before lifting it up to his lips and taking a quick sip. In one moment he was transported to an old memory. He had tasted it a long time ago with an old friend.

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The boy in the hospital bed smiled and quickly signed to Gilbert that he was eating pancakes with maple syrup. Gilbert titled his head in confusion. "What's maple syrup?"

The boy smiled and quickly signed for Gilbert to try what he was eating. He quickly added that the medication he was on made it hard for him to keep his food down, so it was fine for him to eat some of his food.

Gilbert frowned a little. He knew the boy was sick, very sick and he didn't want to take his food from him, but he just seemed like he really wanted Gilbert to try some. He cut off a bit of pancake and dipped it into the maple syrup. He ate it and grinned.

"This is awesome!" He cried out. "This is the best ever! Maple syrups it the best food ever!"

The boy in the bed chuckled silently, but soon his expression changed into one that seemed a little distressed and quickly signed something so fast that Gilbert almost didn't catch it.

The albino frowned a little. "Huh? Why would you be scared? Are you worried about your operation?" The boy nodded and touched his throat. Gilbert didn't need to know sign language to know what the boy was worried about. He smiled sympathetically. "Hey, it's okay. There's a high success rate for this kind of operation. Who knows? You might even be able to talk again. I'd love to hear what you actually sound like."

The boy on the bed smiled brightly at that and nodded enthusiastically. Gilbert grinned. He loved it when he could make the other boy smile. It always made him feel warm inside. He was eagerly waiting for the day when he could hear him speak again.

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Gilbert shook his head. 'What the hell? Why can't I remember that boys face and since when did I learn sign language? It makes no sense! Must have been some weird dream I had ages ago… remembering random things at random times is kind of my speciality…'

"Are you okay?" Asked Matthew. He was sitting on the bench drinking his weird maple drink. "You seem conflicted."

Gilbert shook his head. "It's nothing… really…" He drank more of the strange, sweet liquid. It tasted to much like maple syrup, but less sticky. It was weird but he liked it. He still couldn't shake the odd feeling that he was missing something important. "Oh yeah! Pants!"

Matthew chuckled a little. "Okay, I'll help you out with that. I just thought that I would be nice and offer you a drink first… You can stay here for the night too if you want."

That sounded good to Gilbert. "Awesome. Sounds like a plan."

Matthew smiled a little and led Gilbert up to the second floor of the cottage. "Glad you think so, also some friendly advice; don't go outside at night. If you go outside at night you might get attacked… There are more than those lamps out there."

Gilbert frowned but didn't argue. He didn't stay out at night around this place. For all he knew Matthew was telling the truth. "Okay then…" They walked into a room stacked with boxes and other knick knacks. "… You have a lot of crap in here."

Matthew chuckled a little. "Yeah, I try to go through it sometimes, but I never have enough time… I think I have a box of old pants around here somewhere…" He started to look through the boxes on the floor. As he did this Gilbert was watching his tail twitch again.

'… I know Alfred said that the tail was really sensitive… but it can't be that sensitive, can it?' Against his better judgement Gilbert reached out and touched Matthew's tail.

The reaction was almost instant. Matthew jumped up into the air, knocking several boxes into the air. This caused them both to stumble backwards and fall over. In retrospect Gilbert should have expected something like that to happen.

Gilbert groaned a little and rubbed his head. His whole body hurt horribly but it wasn't so bad. What did feel a bad though was Matthew's face pressed right up against his crotch… Under the dress. Gilbert's face went bright red with both anger and embarrassment. "What the hell is wrong with you? Piss off!" Gilbert punched the offending rabbit in the head in an attempt to make him move.

Instead of moving something very different happened, Matthew started to nuzzle Gilbert's vital regions. "You smell good..." He muttered softly.

Gilbert's blush went insanely dark, to the point where it was several shades darker than his blood red eyes. "What the hell are you doing?" His voice came out as more of a whimper than the strong and demanding tone he was going for.

Matthew chuckled a little. "Sorry Gilbert… But I don't think I can stop myself now…" Gilbert felt Matthew's fingers hook under the elastic of his bloomers and pull them down to his ankles.

Gilbert gasped and grabbed Matthew by his rabbit ears, yanking him up. "NO!" He yelled. "NO! NO! NO! NO! FUCKING KNEW THIS WAS AN EXCUSE TO GET INTO MY PANTS!" He kicked Matthew in the chest and quickly jumped up and ran down the stairs.

He could hear Matthew following him. "Gil, wait! I'm sorry! There are monsters out there!"

"I'd rather take my chances with them you pervert!" Snapped Gilbert as he dashed out of the cottage.

When he thought he was far enough away he collapsed next to a tree. It was at that point he realized his bloomers fell off, so he was now running around the forest at night with no undies. '… Fuck. Stupid rabbit. Stupid everything. I fucking hate it here… Everyone here is a pervert. Shit someone's going to rape me, I just know it… Fuck, what if Matthew shows up again? Damn it!'

His life just went from bad to worse ever since he woke up in this land. He could feel tear drops starting to form in the corners of his eyes. He did his best to blink them back, but it was almost impossible. He just wanted to go home and talk to his brother. Was that too much to ask?

He breathed in shakily. 'Damn it… I hate it here… I fucking hate it here… How the fuck did I even get here anyway? Why can't I remember anything before that stupid dream? What's wrong with me?'

Gilbert clutched his head as it started to pound painfully. "Shit… Why does it hurt when I try to remember?" He took a few deep breaths trying to calm himself down. It was working, just. He sighed softly and extended his legs looking down at his socks. They had a few holes in them now from where they had caught on branches and twigs. He had a few scrapes and cuts, but he was okay.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He just needed to relax and think of where to go now. He would have to deal with his memories later. Suddenly something grabbed his arm forcing Gilbert out of his thoughts. Looking down at him were several creatures coloured black with gaping white mouths and emotionless white eyes.

"Oh shit…" Whispered Gilbert breathlessly.

One of the creatures raised their claws high into the air ready to strike. Gilbert gulped and pulled his arms up over his face in a feeble attempt to protect himself. He felt the creatures claws fly past his arms as something pulled it back.

He opened his eyes again and was shocked to see Matthew standing in front of him growling like a wild animal. "Leave us." He hissed." The creatures slowly turned and walked away, growling slightly back at Matthew as they did so. He turned around and crouched next to Gilbert. All elements that would have made him beastly softened considerably. "Are you okay?"

Gilbert nodded and held his dress down firmly. "Why did you follow me?"

"I didn't want you to get hurt…" Said Matthew, his ears drooped sadly as he looked away. "I… I'm sorry about what happened… I shouldn't have… I have no excuse… Well not one that sounds reasonable anyway…"

Gilbert frowned a little. "Alfred told me about your kind… Your ears and tail are apparently very sensitive… I just didn't realize you were that fucking sensitive!"

Matthew blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry… If you want to go back to the palace I understand fully… I shouldn't have… I'm so sorry…"

"I don't even know where it is from here." Muttered Gilbert. He sighed in defeat. "I'll go back to your place, but if you try to pull a stunt like that again I will kill you!"

Matthew's ears perked up and he nodded quickly, a joyful smile plastered to his face. "Okay! I promise I won't do anything like that again! Please don't worry! I promise things will be better… Do you want to tie my blazer around your waist? You dress is pretty badly torn…" He took of his blazer and handed it over to Gilbert.

Gilbert blushed and looked down at the dress, there was a huge gash in it running up one side. Did those creatures do that to him? Gilbert quickly took it and tied it around his waist. "What were those things?"

Matthew sighed a little and helped Gilbert to his feet. "We call them Night-terrors. They lurk in the shadows at night and attack those who are alone… They are murderers. Ivan's job is to capture them and to take them back to the Cold Lair where they freeze, unable to escape." He frowned a little. "If they touch you, you can get plagued by terrible nightmares that never leave you… They didn't touch you did they?"

Gilbert shook his head. "No. I'm fine… What about you?"

"I'll live." Said Matthew with a smile on his face. "Come on. Let's go." He held Gilbert's hand as they walked back to his cottage. Surprisingly Gilbert didn't feel anxious or pissed off that Matthew was touching him. He was calm and relaxed. It was odd, but he liked it. It made him feel safe, though he would never admit that to Matthew.

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The Night-terrors gathered in a clearing where Ivan was waiting. He frowned at them. "You didn't get the Alice? You creatures only had one job… Failing the task I give you means that you should get punished, da?"

The Night-terrors cowered in fear as Ivan's smile stretched further across his face than humanly possible. The seams on his face started to split and snap revealing hundreds of razor sharp, diamond shaped teeth. He breathed in deeply, causing the creatures to get sucked into his mouth, like they were made of air.

Once the creatures were inhaled he chuckled and pulled on the broken string on his face. "Looks like I need to visit Mr Fix again da?" He chuckled and disappeared off into the night. If he didn't return to the party soon people might get suspicious, and he couldn't have that now could he?

TBC

Shinigami-cat: … I really need to stop ending chapters like this… Please review!