11.

Basically he knew he was running straight into a trap, seriously with Meru and Yoru showing up for a quick moment to inform him that the same ghost that attacked in the church was watching him the entire time and was now trying to escape and leading him somewhere secluded, it was too obvious even for a ghost. His older brother Gordon was even more discreet regarding playing pranks on him than a ghost, and his brother couldn't walk through walls. But he had to get to the bottom of this and actually fix it, so if it meant falling into a trap then so be it.

The ghost continued leading in the same direction of where he came from until the ghost stopped at an abandoned warehouse. Alan stopped for a second to grasp the situation, but unfortunately didn't get the chance since the ghost ventured inside the warehouse and was definitely not waiting for him to catch up. So like the idiot he was he followed, even though he got a bad feeling in his stomach that was telling him that he was waling straight into danger. Then again what's the new?

When he entered the warehouse and followed the presence to the second floor, which led him to stand right in front of the huge window that warehouse builders thought was a nice touch on the construction, but him personally found it useless. Nonetheless he felt the ghost's presence only a few feet away from him, but as he turned to look in that direction he was surprised to see there was someone else standing there instead, the only difference was that this person was pretty much alive. The man was bold and had dark eyes, which he couldn't exactly determine what color they were, and was oddly enough dressed-up with red Chinese-styled robe that made him think that he was some sort of Buddhist monk, but that idea were quickly blown into the wind when this creepy guy said almost tauntingly, "When I heard about you and your abilities I expected something impressive, seeing you now I'm slightly disappointed in how these spirits both respect and fear your abilities."

Alan frowned and responded with a sassy tone, "Sorry, but when I heard about this villain who is starting to cause trouble I imagine you wouldn't look like…oh I don't know, like you. So I guess we both are disappointed."

The man almost chuckled, but not the kind where you felt reassuring afterwards but rather cautious like this man was just moments from doing something unexpected. Then he looked at him again with this kind and reassuring expression on his face and said, "On the contrary, Alan. I'm not disappointed in you or your abilities unlike that family of yours."

That was a stab right to the heart. It hurt to be reminded how much of a disappointment he was and how he couldn't allow himself to just let them in and tell them the truth. However he wasn't willing to show this strange man his vulnerable side, instead he just he glared and said sternly, "You don't know what you are talking about, and even if you did I don't trust the word of some strange man I have never seen before."

"And I go by the name the Hood. But trust me Alan, I do understand exactly how you feel," the Hood said understanding, so soft and kind that he almost believed him. "The constant fears and your life on the line for people and spirits that doesn't understand or deserve it. And your family blaming and shuns you for the person you really are so much that you have to hide it for them, which only makes them shun you even more."

He shook his head in disbelief. It wasn't true. He didn't believe that about his family or from Fermat or Tin-Tin. He might be a disappointment to them, possibly even a grievance, but he knew somewhere inside that they didn't blame or shun him for who he was. They just didn't know him enough as they thought or wished they did.

"Tell me what you want so I at least have a reason to kick your ass and stop your plans," Alan sneered, not wanting to hear another word that made him feel like the dirty underneath everyone else's shoes.

The Hood only responded by laughing at him with this taunting tone, which pissed him even more of than before, before he said with confidence, "Are you sure about that?"

Then he heard the clicking sound of someone loading a gun and he turned to see that two other guys were aiming their guns at him and was practically jumping to get the permission to shoot him. Alan almost instantly went to guard mode, prepared to fight back if necessary, responded with sarcasm, "I see you came prepared. Why bother bringing along the ghost if you already had back up? More importantly how are you able to see them more or less getting them to do your bidding? From what I have heard you don't possess the power to see or communicate with the dead."

"I may not have the same abilities as you regarding ghosts and spirits, but with meditation you are able to open some doors that allows me limited time to see ghosts," The Hood answered. Then a ghost appeared next to him, whom Alan assumed was the same ghost who tried to kill him back at the church. "And by using my own power allows me to control them as well."

Alan found the whole reasoning odd. If this man used so much will power to see and talk to ghosts, wouldn't it mean that he would feel even weaker when he used his own power at the same time?

"So what do you want with me then?" He asked, though he was pretty sure that regardless of the answer that man was up to no good. The Hood looked at him, tilting his head like he couldn't understand why he asked that question before he said, "I hope for your cooperation to help me access the Shadowlands in order to gather an army of spirits to do my biding, but I assume you are not going to, am I correct?"

Alan nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world, there was no way he was allowing this creep enter and take over those spirits to do who knows what, even he knew that it could lead into ultimate consequences to mess around between those two realms and try and overpower the other. Besides he didn't know much about the Shadowlands other than the basic stuff, so how in the world would he know how to enter that place?

The Hood continued saying after nodding his head in disappointment, "Well then I'm sorry that we couldn't make this work. I have otherwise no use for you and you will only be in my way."

Then he snapped his fingers and before Alan had a chance to think or grasp the seriousness in the situation the ghost moved and was coming towards him in an incredible speed. And before he knew it his feet left the surface and he was pushed out the window. At that moment all comprehension and thoughts drifted away from his mind and just faced reality as cruel as it always was with him.

Tin-Tin and Fermat had a hard time catching up to Alan, who apparently was just as athletic or probably even more so than his older brothers so it would seem, but they managed to keep a keep with him somehow since they finally reached an abandoned warehouse in the outskirts of the town. They had just stopped in front of the building, just missing him entering that place by mere minutes.

"S-So what n-now?" Fermat asked. She didn't say anything at first, only stared at the building while feeling this horrible pain to her stomach that was telling something fishy was going and it was only about to get worse, but in the end she shook her head. Reasoning with herself that she was just worried about Alan and that she was reading to much into this. She was just about to answer when she heard a glass break and looked up to see Alan falling from the broken window. Seconds later his body met the ground with thump like someone had just thrown a sack of potatoes.

"ALAN!" Fermat exclaimed horrified, almost immediately jumped to be by his best friend's side. Tin-Tin wasn't sure how to process what had just happen. Alan had been in there only for a few minutes, so how did this all happen?

She looked up to see the broken window in order to determine if someone had pushed him out or something else had happened, but she didn't see anything even though she felt this ominous tension in the air. Then she came to Fermat's side, who was practically freaking out and wasn't sure what to do. Alan was just lying there, unconscious and was covered in blood from the shattered glass. Most of the blood was coming from the cut on his right forearm and it was streaming out very fast. She leaned in to check his pulse, it was still there, but it was starting to slow down and might end up dead unless they got him to a hospital as soon as possible. She reached down into her pocket to retrieve her cell phone to call for an ambulance; meanwhile she ordered Fermat, "Keep pressure on the wound. It's the only chance we have to keep him stable enough until the ambulance get here."

Fermat did what he was told and used his jacket to put pressure on Alan's wound, then he turned his attention back on her once she was down with the phone call and informed him that the ambulance would be here in a couple of minutes.

"W-What are y-you going t-to tell the T-Tracys?" Fermat asked, even though they both were pretty sure what the answer was. Tin-Tin sighed as she sat down next to him as she watched Alan's unconscious yet incredible vulnerable and sad expression like those expression she had seen many times before. Alan Tracy was an enigma and once he woke up again she was determined to get the answers that she sought, and this time she wasn't going to wait around for him to be open with her.

She sighed tiredly and ran a hand through her hair before she said dejected, "I'm going to tell them the truth, while praying that he will get out of this safe and sound."

Everything was just so messed up. First Alan and apparently Fermat planned to ditch him and only taking Tin-Tin with them to do who knows what and the next thing he knows is that his baby brother is being taken to the hospitals for some serious injuries. Scott was practically tripping in worry once he arrived at the hospital after getting Tin-Tin phone call about what had happened. His dad and his brothers were on their way over, so that left him with Fermat and Tin-Tin. He was pacing back and forth in the hallway, waiting for the doctors to come out and tell him that Alan was going to be okay. Fermat and Tin-Tin was sitting in the waiting-room chairs with dejected and worried expressions on their faces. And while he wanted nothing more to yell and reprimand them for their actions, he knew that they felt bad about it and never wanted any of this to happen. Besides if he did yell at them it would only end with him being yelled at later by his dad and possibly John as well, which right now he wasn't really in the mood for.

After what seemed like forever the doctor finally showed up and asked for family members of Alan, and seeing as he was the only one there and the oldest he jumped right on it and asked how he was doing.

"He'll be okay. We managed to stop the bleeding and he should be conscious soon enough," Dr. Colson said before his voice changed with a hint of concern in his voice. "However I see in his medical chart that there had been several incidents similar to this one. And I'm just wondering if this is like one of those incidents?"

Scott froze by the mentions of those incidents that the doctor was talking about, one in particular he remembered far too well. Alan was just sixteen when it happened, but because of that incident everything changed. It was what led to Alan's estrangement with his family, doing everything in his power to shut them out of his life. And though it hurt as hell to think and be reminded of it, he couldn't blame him because after that incident his brother could never forgive them for how they handled it and how they tried to resolve the issue. And to be honest, he wasn't sure if he or anyone in his family could forgive themselves either.

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Thanks again for the amazing response I have been receiving, hope you guys like this chapter.

Once again, since school is starting right now, I can't promise how much writing time I'm going to have, but I will try continue updating this story on Mondays every week. If I can't then you guys know that I'm busy with school and other things. However don't stop loving and support this story, I really appreciate your love and support.

And to inform you, I don't know anything about human anatomy, so any medical stuff mention in this story might be inaccurate. You have been warned.

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xXrebelgirl07Xx