Shiki

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.

Warnings: AU, Vampires/Shiki, multiple pairings (boy/boy being prevalent), coarse language, violence, and excessive references to blood (because there's Vamps, so…duh).

I'm not a huge fan of Christmas, but I'm all for the extra time off that comes along with it ;) Here's another Shiki update for all you wonderful people out there!

We spent the last two chapters with the Shiki, so here's what's going on with the townsfolk. And just in case….

"This is talking." 'This is thinking.' /This is telepathy./

oOo

It was cold and dark. Feliciano could see his breath like fog in the night air. Everywhere he looked, he saw shadows. He felt surrounded by the frigid, black ocean pooling around him and threatening to pull him under. The current was strong and tugging at his legs, it was only a matter of time before the boy was plunged into its icy depths. Feliciano was afraid until he felt someone holding his hand. He felt warm. He opened his eyes and saw his brother.

"Lovino? Where are we?" he looked around nervously. His body felt heavy. "What is this ocean?"

"These are no ordinary monsters…"

Feliciano tilted his head at his brother's response. It was odd, but sounded familiar. He recalled saying it earlier that day, but where had he heard it before that? It only sounded right when Lovino said it.

"Ve, I don't get it, fratello," Feli smiled to hide his distress. "This is an ocean, not a monster. Are you teasing me again?"

Lovino merely kicked at the water freezing around his brother, freeing him. Feliciano could feel the warmth from his fratello flowing through him, melting the ice. Suddenly, the younger Vargas was standing on a grassy patch of land, while Lovino remained in the water. Wouldn't he get cold at that rate? Feliciano squeezed his hand.

"Lovi…?"

"These are no ordinary monsters…" he repeated himself, ignoring the icy water crawling up his leg like a living shadow.

"F-Fratello! What's going on?!"

He finally remembered that phrase sounded so familiar because Lovino had said it to him hundreds of times before. It was a quote from Feli's favorite story that he often made his big brother read to him. What did Song of the Witch have to do with this? His amber eyes widened as he helplessly watched his brother become covered in shadows. When Lovino's hand suddenly turned ice cold, Feliciano screamed.

oOo

Feliciano woke up from his strange dream, staring at the ceiling. He blinked himself into consciousness and realized how early it was. A glance at his alarm clock showed him it was about half past five. He shuddered and took a deep breath. Why was he so rattled?

The younger Vargas sat up and felt a dampness on his cheeks. Tears?

"Ve…?"

Quickly deciding against going back to sleep by himself, Feli wrapped himself in a soft tricolored blanket and walked down the hallway to his brother's room, shivering as his bare feet touched the hardwood floor. Lovino would probably curse him out for waking him up so early, but he knew his older brother would never kick him out. Even if his feet felt like ice cubes! Once Feliciano knew he wasn't alone, he was certain he could fall asleep again. He cautiously opened the door and stuck his head in.

"Lovino…?"

Nobody answered him. Was he asleep? Feliciano flicked on the lights and was met with an empty room. Lovino wasn't asleep, he wasn't even there. Lovino never came home.

Breath catching in his throat, Feliciano raced back to his room. The brunette hugged the blanket tighter around his body, but no longer felt the cold floorboards stinging his toes. He only felt fear.

'Lovino always comes home…' the brunette thought as he blinked away fresh tears. 'No matter how mad he gets, he always, always comes home…!'

Feli fumbled around his nightstand until he found his phone. He quickly tore it from the charger and called his brother's number, grateful he kept him on speedial. It rang four times before the lively ringtone sprang to life in Feliciano's coat pocket.

"That's right…" he whimpered. "Fratello left his phone behind…"

And now there was no way of contacting him.

Fear renewed, Feliciano tore down the hallway to his father's room, shouting and wailing for him the entire way. This was worse than the times he ran to his parents' room as a child when he had a bad dream. This time the nightmare was real. Romeo was initially concerned when his son woke him up in tears, but it faded when he explained why.

"I'm sure it's nothing," he replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "You know how irritable and stubborn your brother can be."

"S-Si, but he a-always comes home!"

"He'll turn up eventually," Romeo said dismissively. "Just go back to bed, Feliciano."

"B-But…!"

"Go back to bed, Feliciano."

Romeo laid back down, facing away from his son, to let him know the conversation was over. Feliciano's shoulders drooped and he exited the room. His father's harsh, clipped words let him know he wouldn't be any further help. He picked up his phone and called the second person he kept on speedial. Feli knew it was early, but with nobody else to help him, he turned to his best friend.

"Ja…? Hello?" a slightly tired-sounding voice answered.

"V-Ve, Ludwig…I need your help!"

oOo

Ludwig had answered when he heard his phone buzzing in his ear. Despite the early hour, he listened to his childhood friend tearfully tell him about the situation. Although the nightmare sounded like something silly, trivial, and very Feliciano, the Italian's concern for his brother was very real. If Lovino hadn't returned yet, despite coming home every other time, then Feli's fears were justified and something was wrong. Especially with what they had just been through with Gilbert and the others.

The blonde met his friend outside the Vargas house within a few minutes. It was about a ten minute jog from where Ludwig lived, but he made it in half the time. The duo began looking around the town, but couldn't find any sign of Lovino. A little after six, they started calling the others, but nobody had seen the Italian boy with the foul temper.

Alfred joined them immediately upon hearing that Lovino was missing. He had been feeling guilty ever since yesterday when he didn't follow his friend out of the café. What kind of hero turns his back on his friends? If something had happened to Lovino, Alfred knew he'd never forgive himself.

"So where have you guys checked so far?" the blonde asked.

"Mostly around town and inside the Vargas house. Everything else was closed or just getting ready to open," Ludwig reported, not noticing his steadying hand on Feliciano's shoulder. "We could start that now that places are no longer closed."

"But nobody has seen him…" Feli looked close to tears again. "He wouldn't have broken into someplace after it had closed."

Both blondes were quiet for a moment. He had a point. If Lovino wasn't spending the night with one of them, he would most likely go home before sneaking into another building to sleep on a bench or chair. This was the guy who even started complaining about the booths at the arcade and Tulipan if he had to stay sitting in them for long amounts of time. No way would he give up a decent night's sleep in his bed for what he called 'a dishrag stapled to a piece of crap tree trunk.'

"How 'bout we check out the clearing me and Lovi found blood in awhile ago?" Alfred suggested. "He seemed really determined to find some kind of evidence Francis and the others had been there."

The other two agreed and the trio set off towards the woods. Although nobody said anything, the forest felt different today. Almost threatening, somehow. They walked at a brisk pace until they reached the clearing about a mile away. Next to nothing had changed – overturned trees, uprooted shrubs, forest floor in disarray…the only thing missing were the footsteps that had faded and been washed away by rain. Still, the three boys searched for a sign the tsundere had been here recently.

They found nothing.

"There has to be something…" the brunette frowned.

"That's right, Lovi was pretty obsessed with this place earlier," agreed Alfred. "I'm sure we'll find something!"

After another 20 minutes of desperate searching, Ludwig finally convinced them to return to town. Alfred did his best to keep the conversation cheerful, but this did little to quell the bad feeling growing inside Feliciano and himself. By the time they reached the main gates, dread was gnawing at their insides.

"Ve, we didn't find anything…" Feli shivered. He could no longer tell if it was from worry or the morning chill in the air.

"I think it would be best for you to take a break," Ludwig suggested. "I can take you looking again after you've eaten something and rested."

"O-Okay, Ludwig," Feliciano nodded. He wasn't sure how much sleep he'd be able to get in this state, but was grateful his friend promised to take him out again later. The Italian waved to his friend as he walked away and turned to the remaining blonde. "Hey, Alfred, would you mind joining me for breakfast? It would keep my mind off scary things…"

"Sure," the hero accepted for the same reason.

Both returned to the Vargas residence, doing their best to chatter about anything except their current predicament. Once inside the kitchen, Alfred slung his blue jacket across the back of his chair while Feliciano donned an apron.

"By the way, I like your new jacket," the amber-eyed boy smiled, cracking an egg into a mixing bowl. "What happened to your brown one?"

"Oh, I lent it to a friend," Alfred grinned.

He thought of grabbing it while he was here, but figured it would be easier to ask Lovino when he saw him next. The American had asked the moodier Italian about it once or twice, but both kept forgetting about it whenever Lovi had a chance to return it and it would be a cold day in hell before Lovino admitted that he had conveniently forgotten it a couple times just to have another excuse to fall asleep in it…but only because his piece of crap window had a draft and it was chilly, of course.

"That was nice of you, Alfred," the chef responded with a smile. He had moved on to slicing up some peppers for their omelets. "You're always looking out for your friends aren't you?"

"Of course! I'm the hero!"

"How could I ever forget?" Feliciano laughed to cover up his hands shaking. Alfred saw though it anyway.

"Hey, I know you're a pro chef and all, but—"

"Alfred! Feliciano!" Matthew shouted as he burst in the door leading outside.

This was shocking because it was Matthew bursting in, shouting, and disregarding manners in general. Shock turned to concern when they saw he was crying.

"Mattie, what's wrong, bro?" Alfred worriedly asked as the other caught his breath.

"You have to get to the hospital quickly!" He huffed. "They found Lovino!"

oOo

The world spun around Ludwig so fast, he wasn't sure if he was on or off. All he had wanted to do was find Lovino for Feliciano's sake, but never like this…

He set the unconscious boy on the gurney as the doctor instructed him to. Ludwig heard all of the voices and machines buzzing around him, but he couldn't focus. Lovino felt so cold.

It wasn't right. The older Vargas brother was always full of life and yelling at him, even when sick. There must have been a mistake, the lifeless person being wheeled away from him couldn't be Lovino; he just couldn't.

After he was taken out of the E.R., Ludwig sat in a chair in the waiting room. He let himself be guided out. The longer he looked at Lovino, the harder it got. Ludwig had failed Feliciano, the person he loved the most, by failing to find the person Feli cared about the most. If he had gotten there sooner, he might have been able to help somehow. Instead, he was only able to find Feliciano's beloved brother in a broken state and it was all his fault. He didn't know how he was ever going to be able to face Feli after this. The nurse was asking him questions, but he had difficulty answering. Ludwig could only think of that dreadful moment he found Lovino in those godforsaken woods.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" the nurse asked him to clarify.

"It…It's all my fault…"

After he had left Feliciano and Alfred, Ludwig decided to look one more time for the grumpy Italian. He'd combed the woods so many times looking for his own brother, it was becoming second nature. The German had only searched for about 15 minutes when he came across a familiar meadow. Normally, he liked to stop there and relax on the tree stump surrounded by flowers, but not today.

Today, he pushed back the shrubs and walked around the thorny branches to see someone lying there. The person was motionless, but not identifiable at this point. Ludwig rushed forward to help, praying it was someone else.

His heart sank when he lifted up the young man's head from the flowers and saw an older version of Feliciano.

Before moving him further, Ludwig checked for a heartbeat and found a weak one. He noted that Lovino was also breathing shallowly. The blonde looked him over for any sign of an injury and saw that his right sleeve was torn and bloodied. However, when he checked Lovino's arm for an injury, he found nothing and couldn't understand what was wrong. The brunette wasn't responding to anything and his normally tan skin was quite pale.

Ludwig shifted Lovino into an easier position to breath, but it was still raspy and didn't improve. The German decided that he couldn't do anything for him here and Lovino needed to get medical attention. Ludwig picked him up carefully and carried him back to town. He was surprised by how light the older boy was, even as dead weight. What troubled him most was how cold the fiery Italian felt, causing him to break into a light jog down the trail.

He realized he had no idea what he could say to Feliciano and prayed he didn't run into him or anyone else. Ludwig wanted to get Lovino to the hospital, where they would be able to help him. Lovino would wake up, call him a bastard, and Feliciano would chide his brother for pushing himself too hard. Lost in his thoughts, Ludwig almost didn't notice the person running towards him.

'Is that Alfred…?' Ludwig wondered. He couldn't let him see Lovino like this; it would crush him. Especially after he just spent the last two hours searching the town and woods for him. 'Wait…if he was eating with Feliciano, shouldn't he have been running from the other direction?'

Ludwig realized it was Matthew when he got closer and began panicking. The German quickly told him to go get the others and tell them he was taking Lovino to the hospital. Matthew took off without another word, trying to stifle the few sobs that managed to escape.

oOo

Feliciano had wasted no time in flooring it the entire way to the hospital. He even beet the Jones brothers by a solid five minutes. He had hoped that he'd be able to walk in and everyone would tell him his fratello was fine. Ludwig would hug him and tell him not to worry, Lovino's just resting. They'd go in to see him and Lovi would already be awake, complaining about the food.

It broke Feliciano's heart when he walked into the waiting room and saw Ludwig hunched over, staring at the floor. He'd never seen him look so sad in his entire life.

oOo

A/N – Lovi has been found, but nobody knows what's wrong with him just yet. Hope you didn't mind all the jumping around we did in this chapter. I tried to pass the POV off to a couple different characters, but this chapter ended up being all about Feli and Ludwig. Next time, poor Mattie and Kiku will get some more screen time and we'll see what the doctor has to say about Lovi's condition!

-Rajikka

Translations

Shiki – "corpse demon" basically a Vampire. (Jp.)

Karitoru – "to reap" or "to harvest" (Jp.)

Fratello – "Brother" (It.)

Si - "Yes" (It.)

Ja – "Yes" (Ger.)