IMPORTANT NOTE: TRIGGER WARNINGS for this chapter: Burns and burn descriptions. If you have trouble with graphic burn descriptions and related injury and can't read this chapter, MESSAGE ME with chapter number and title, and I will summarize the chapter for you so you know what is going on and can continue with the series.

…..

Vivi could hardly keep up with Mystery. He strained at the end of the leash, half dragging her down the sidewalk, his nose pressed to the pavement. Heavy wheezing followed her, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Chloe staggering a few yards behind.

"Can… can your dog slow down?" Chloe called.

"Chloe, go back! I'll handle this, you're not in any sha-aaaAAAAAPE!" Vivi's foot caught on a particularly nasty crack in the sidewalk, sending her tumbling to the ground. Mystery paid no attention, yanking his leash out of Vivi's hand and bounding ahead. "Mystery, get back here!" she shouted. She struggled to her feet, yelping as she set weight down on her ankle.

Perfect.

Limping after him, she tried to see where he was headed. They were somewhere near the Peppers' restaurant. Beyond that, there was no telling where Mystery was aiming for. She hoped he was headed for Arthur. He had to be, he was a smart dog, and he'd started scratching at the door as soon as he heard the screaming.

What am I thinking? I can't pin Arthur's safety on my dog knowing it was him on the line!

"Vivi-chan! Your foot!" Chloe had caught up. "I'll help."

"You can barely walk yourself!"

Chloe slung Vivi's arm over her shoulder. "I'll manage, what's wrong with Arthur?"

"I called him and he was screaming. Whatever's happening, he's in over his head."

Together they hobbled on. Mystery was out of sight, but Vivi could hear him barking. "For crying out sideways in a cookie bucket, I'll never catch up with him at this rate!" She pulled out her phone, hitting the Uber app. "No treats for a week, Mystery."

Within a minute, a driver pulled up. "Hey, you didn't specify an end location. Where you headed?"

Vivi climbed into the passenger's seat, and Chloe sat in back. "You hear that barking?"

"Yeah."

"Follow it!"

The driver gave her an odd look.

"Just go!" She rolled down the window to let in the rapidly fading sounds of Mystery's chase. Shrugging, the driver took off. A short drive caught them up to Mystery, still tearing full speed ahead.

"Yo, you gonna try and catch your dog?" The driver asked.

"No, just follow him, he's leading us somewhere."

The driver squinted ahead. "All that's left up ahead is the cemetery."

A chill ran down Vivi's spine. "Get us there, and floor it."

"No need to be dramatic, miss. It's literally right ahead." He pulled up to the gate.

"Thanks, we gotta…" she trailed off. A full half of the cemetery was ablaze in pink flame. "Call the fire department."

"What?" He peered at her. "Miss, you been drinking?"

"Call the fire department!" She pointed at the flames. "We have to make sure those don't spread!"

The man stared at the cemetery and shook his head slowly. "I see someone set a fire already, the grass is all black. There'll be hell to pay tomorrow, but no fire now. Miss, are you sure there isn't somewhere else you want me to take you? Somewhere you'll be safe for the night?"

Swallowing hard, Vivi exited the car, wobbling. Chloe slid out, grabbing her arm to steady her. "I'll be fine. Thanks. Have a good night." She shut the door as Mystery arrived at the gate, barrelling through. The hinges shrieked like banshees, and the flames dimmed for a moment.

"Chloe, do you see what I see, or have I gone crazy?" Vivi asked, clutching Chloe's hand.

"I see, Vivi-chan." Chloe's glasses reflected the flames. "But the driver didn't. It's just like Gantz, nobody else can see. What do we do?"

And then she heard it. Arthur screaming. Mystery plunged into the flames.

"Mystery! Arthur!" She pulled away from Chloe, stumbling toward the flames. "ARTHUR!"

The inferno faded some, and as she approached the furthest embers they extinguished. Wherever she placed her feet, flames expired in a puff of smoke. She tripped over a short headstone, catching herself on the palms of her hands. The screams were close, as was Mystery's barking.

Sudden darkness claimed the cemetery as the fire vanished all at once, and Vivi couldn't see anything. She crawled toward the screaming, wishing her eyes would adjust faster. "Squire! I'm here, hold on!"

"Vivi-chan!" Chloe called. "Vivi-chan, the fire's gone! Where are you?"

"Here, Chloe! Squire!" She had to be practically on top of him. "Squire!"

Her hand came down on something that wasn't grass. It jerked away from her, and the screams dropped to rasping croaks as Arthur's voice gave out. Vivi fumbled for her phone, switching to flashlight mode.

The phone slipped through her fingers. Everywhere she could see, his skin was black and peeling. Bone glinted along his fingers, all along his remaining arm, and through the split flesh of his left leg. His right leg bent in the wrong direction, and his blistered eyes stared unblinking at the sky. She clamped her hand over her mouth as she realized he had no eyelids left.

Mystery stood on the other side of Arthur, staring down. He paced back and forth giving a mewling whine. As Vivi reached for Arthur, Mystery leaped over his body, catching her wrist in his mouth. He gave a muffled bark, holding her hand back.

"But… I…." She stared down at the wreck of her friend. His cries were turning to great, hacking coughs that brought up mouthfuls of blood. "I have to call someone, I have to-"

"Little boy!" Chloe wailed, falling to her knees next to Arthur. "Little boy! No, not again!" She shoved her arms under him, yanking him close.

"Don't touch him!" Vivi shrieked.

Arthur coughed, spattering Chloe with blood. She wrapped her arms around his chest. "Don't go, little boy!" She buried her face in his shoulder, and her body began to glow. "Don't go!"

Vivi froze, her hand still outstretched to push Chloe off.

As before, the glow shone out from under her hood the most. It spilled out over Arthur's charred body and everywhere it touched, black, flaky skin returned to healthy flesh. He closed his eyes, and his rasping faded to broken whimpers. Chloe sealed her mouth over Arthur's for a moment, breathing out once before releasing. A black puff of smoke escaped from his lips, and he took in a deep breath of clear air. The glow from her face didn't reach past his chest, though, and Vivi could see far more damage that hadn't been touched.

"Chloe," she whispered. "Can you take off your sweater?"

"I… I can't." Chloe cringed. "Duet will get mad."

"Chloe, you have to give Arthur more… whatever you're doing."

"I'm not doing anything." Chloe raised her head. "I don't know what you're talking… about…" As she lifted her head, the light spread farther, healing more of Arthur's torso. "Vivi-Chan… what is happening to me?"

Vivi felt herself slipping into a numb place. Time bomb, she thought to herself. Anywhere from minutes to hours from now, there is going to be a full-on meltdown. For now, focus.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's helping Arthur. Your sweater is blocking it, please Chloe."

Slowly, Chloe reached up to her neck, pulling her cloak away from the red gem at the front. Grabbing the edge of her green sweater, she pulled it over her head. Soft light flowed off her arms, her neck, her face, bathing the rest of Arthur's body in a healing glow. Down to a simple black shirt now, she stared at her arms. Reaching up, she removed her glasses. Frightened gold eyes locked with Vivi's for the first time.

"Vivi-chan, what am I?"

….

"Not again!" She bolted for the paddock gate, kneeling down by the crisped body that had been deposited on the other side. "You monster!" she shouted.

The gargantuan skeleton turned itself languidly back toward her, rolling its orb from one eyesocket to the other. "Monster," it mused. "Rather uninventive. Surely you can come up with something more creative than that?"

She didn't answer, her attention already on the moaning child. "Little boy!" she pleaded. "Don't go, little boy!" She positioned herself lengthwise next to him, her body already emanating a soft flicker. "Hold on a little more!"

The skeleton tossed its head, grinning as the orb rolled about in its skull. "Do what you can to heal him again. Hope is such a toxically beautiful ingredient." It slunk off toward the compound.

Her vision blurred and she shook the tears out of her eyes. There was no time. She laid her neck across his forehead, trying to build the glow brighter. Where was the herd? She needed them. Nobody was teaching her what to do, and she had to glow brighter to heal, or the little boy would die.

She'd done it before, she could do it again. It just took concentration… but sometimes concentration was what made it go away. Ohhh how was she supposed to do this over and over? She just wanted to see him get better, the frightened little boy who came to wash her and give her kind words, even though he never got any kind words here.

She didn't even know what she was doing, or how she did it, but the glow increased, slowly bathing the boy in light. His muscles and sinews knit back together, his charred flesh replaced with healthy skin. She placed her mouth over his, breathing new air into smoke-filled lungs.

When the boy finally opened his eyes, she nearly sobbed with relief. "You didn't leave."

He cracked a tiny smile, lifting his knuckles to bop her nose. "It… it'll take… a lot more… than that."

She glanced up, her ears straining for sounds of the demon that kept them. He couldn't know that she had the boy's name. Satisfied he was away, she turned to examine him. "What is your name?"

The boy opened his mouth, then paused, a look of panic crossing his face.

"No, you can do this!" She urged. "I know you can. You're strong. Let's start with something easier. What is my name?" The name he had given her the first time she'd healed him, the one he could actually pronounce.

His brow furrowed as he reached after his scattered thoughts. "Chloe," he rasped. "Your name is Chloe, but… I can't remember… Chloe, he took my name!"

She pressed her nose to his forehead, whispering, "You have to remember. If you lose your name, you'll lose you. I've seen the others when he's done with them, please. It starts with 'L'. Don't think too hard, it's there. Let it roll off the tongue."

"L…" The boy licked his lips, swallowing. "L…." He looked up at her, trembling. He knew what would happen if he couldn't tell the demon his name.

"You can do it. I believe in you." She nudged his forehead again. "What's your name?"

"Lewwww…..is…." He smiled, giving a short laugh. "My name's Lewis, I've got it!"

She smiled. "I knew you could do it. Hold onto your name, and he'll never take you down."