Thanks to Shattering Colors, Zaaze, Tossing-stone, Elizaveta Hedervary – Hungary, Alllans, ScandinavianTrash, Little Bird 8060 and RinKagamine002 for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 33

Lovino kept running. He didn't know where he was going, but the overwhelming need to escape coursed through his veins.

It couldn't be true. Matthew and Feliks weren't murderers. They wouldn't kill anyone of their own volition. They wouldn't purposely decide to become demons.

They were wrong. Those Kirklands… They didn't know anything about his friends. Arthur must have told them about the transformations, and they immediately thought the worst. They were…

They were probably thinking of locking Lovino away, so that he wouldn't kill anyone. And they were lying about his friends so that he'd trust them.

But then… why didn't they say anything about Vlad?

Could it be that Arthur really was trying to take Vlad away? And that he was trying to get Lovino, Feliks and Matthew out of the way to achieve that?

Lovino shook his head, trying to clear it of those thoughts, but then something else took control.

Marcello… How much did he hear? It was possible that Marcello had been eavesdropping, for he was there pretty fast. And as for what he saw…

Lovino knew that he was the one that had unleashed that force. And if Marcello saw it… That look that Marcello had given him. He didn't want his brother to look at him like that.

But if Marcello knew… Lovino couldn't take it. To think that his brother might be afraid of him… And it would be the same way Feliciano and Romulus would look at them. Romulus might try to take him for an exorcism, or something. And it wouldn't work, and Lovino would…

He yelped as a sharp pain stung his calf, and he fell to the ground. He turned back to look at his leg, and he paled when he saw a knife lodged there. Only one person could be capable of that…

"Oh, you hit him."

Lovino looked up with wide eyes, seeing Ivan and Natalia approaching him. Ivan was the one that had spoken, and Natalia had thrown the knife.

Lovino tried to stand, but the knife in his leg caused pain to course through his body. He quickly tried to remove it, but in that time Natalia reached him, being faster than her brother. She pushed him to the ground and yanked the knife out, before she pressed it against Lovino's throat.

Lovino could feel the sharpness of the blade and the wetness of his blood, but he couldn't put much more thought in it. Ivan was looming over him as well now.

"Well, it's quite a surprise to see you here," Ivan said. "But now we can play."

Lovino frantically looked around, hoping that someone was nearby. Preferably Ms Braginskaya. Hopefully, she could control the two psychos.

Natalia noticed the frantic search with his eyes, and she gave a nasty grin.

"Katyusha needed to go to a meeting," Natalia said. "And everyone else went to the mall, or they're too scared to stop us. No one will interfere."

…

Vlad was eating the cold pizza, feeling completely drained. He didn't feel nauseous or anything, but his head felt… empty, and his face felt as though all of the blood had been drained. He didn't have much of an appetite, but Feliks had insisted that he eat something.

Vlad couldn't help but notice that something was amiss. There was nothing bad in particular that had happened the last few days, other than the news arriving that they were turning into demons. And then there was Alfred's suicide, with them trying to cheer Matthew up after his brother died.

But… something was amiss.

Also, when he tried to recall the previous days' events, he kept getting a headache, so he decided to ignore it for the present and just focus on getting better.

He winced when someone knocked on the door, and he saw as Feliks made a beeline for it.

"Wait," Vlad said. "The door's enchanted. Only I can open it."

There was something nagging at him when he said that, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. But he made his way towards the door, and he opened it to see Arthur, Alice and a young man who slightly resembled them.

"Arthur?" Vlad asked. "What are you doing here?"

"You need to come with us," Arthur said.

Vlad frowned in confusion, before his eyes focused on the man he didn't know.

"Who's this?" Vlad asked.

"My brother, Will," Arthur explained. "Remember what we've discussed yesterday?"

"Yesterday? I didn't discuss anything with you. I didn't even see you."

Arthur stared at him blankly before his eyes widened. Vlad sensed movement behind him and turned around to see Feliks, casually leaning against the wall. The Pole's expression was blank, but he was watching Arthur.

"Yesterday you told us that a few years ago, you were attacked by a demon," Arthur said. "And that the demon returned about a week ago. You said that it wanted to possess your body, but once it found out about your potential transformation, it decided to stick around, since it finds everything entertaining."

Vlad stared at Arthur. He had no memory of telling Arthur something like that, but it was true. It was what Vlad knew to be the truth. But then…?

"Yesterday, we discussed the possibility of one of your friends being responsible for Alfred's death," Arthur said. "And afterwards, another corpse was found. Toris Laurinaitis, who has a history with Feliks. You said you didn't want to accept the possibility. But Feliks killed Toris."

"Like, that's a lie!" Feliks shouted. "Like, I would totally never do something like that! How can you say such things?!"

"If you don't believe me," Arthur said, "then fetch the stone."

"What stone?" Vlad asked.

Arthur's eyes widened, before he turned his attention to Feliks.

"What did you do to him?" Arthur demanded.

"Like, I didn't do anything!" Feliks shouted. "Stop lying!"

Vlad had to think. He knew that he should know what Arthur was referring to, but for some reason, he couldn't think of anything that made sense. And when he tried, his head started hurting again, and his stomach twisted. Perhaps he shouldn't have eaten that…

His thoughts came to a screeching stop. He looked towards the doorknob, ignoring Feliks and Arthur's argument. Only he could open the door. But then…

"Feliks," Vlad said, interrupting the two. "Lovino stopped by last night to deliver the pizzas, right? But… The doors and windows are enchanted so that only I can open them." He turned to Feliks. "How did you get the pizzas?"

Feliks's eyes widened. Behind him, Vlad heard someone sigh.

"Perhaps I can show you the truth."

Vlad turned to see that Will was the one that spoke, and he threw a bottle at Feliks, muttering a spell that Vlad recognised, which was supposed to reveal something's true form. The bottle collided with Feliks, who screamed as his appearance suddenly changed. And once the appearance changed, Vlad could sense the presence of a demon.

Feliks snarled, focusing his red eyes on the four at the door. Vlad yelped when he was suddenly pulled outside before the door slammed closed. The door shook in its frame when Feliks apparently collided with it, and Vlad gasped in shock.

"Will he be able to open it at all?" Alice asked, and Vlad shook his head.

"He shouldn't be able to go in or out of the doors," Vlad said. "But if he can teleport…"

"Then we need to get out of here now," Will said.

Vlad was pulled towards the car, and he was just pushed in the backseat alongside Arthur when Feliks appeared on the car's bonnet, leering in at them. His eyes were fixed on Arthur, though.

"We already told you not to interfere," Feliks said. "You didn't heed our warning."

"Drive!" Arthur shouted, and Alice tried to start the car, though it wouldn't take.

Feliks smirked, before he lifted his head, almost as though he heard something. And then the smirk widened.

In that moment, he truly lived up to the name 'Insanity'.

"You're late," Feliks said, before he lowered his head. "Now, Arthur. You still need to be punished."

Feliks glanced towards Will, who had been muttering a spell. Feliks's smirk fell, replaced by a snarl, before he suddenly disappeared in a burst of flames.

They all gasped in surprise when the car suddenly started, and Will slumped in his seat in pure relief.

"What was the spell you used?" Alice asked.

"It's to chase away a demon, but only temporary," Will said. "He can't come near us for the next hour, but he can come back."

"Hopefully we'll be in a safe place by then," Arthur said.

"Please tell me you have such a place," Vlad said, his heart hammering in his chest.

"We fortified our house against all sorts of demons," Arthur said. "Let's just hope it works."

"Don't say that!"

…

Mathias walked into Lukas's house, as he usually did. He wanted to see his cousins.

He listened for a moment, trying to figure out where either Lukas or Emil would be, and followed the voices. He found the two in the bathroom, with Lukas pressing his hand against his nose.

"What happened to you?" Mathias asked worriedly, preparing to go after whoever had punched Lukas, since it was obvious that the other had a bloody nose.

"Long story," Lukas said dismissively. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't I come visit my two favourite cousins?"

Lukas's expression darkened, and Mathias instinctively took a step back.

"I want you to leave," Lukas said. "And stay away from us."

"Huh?" Mathias asked, surprised. "What did I do?"

"You know full well!" Lukas snapped. "You, and Alfred, and Sadik, and Allen… all of you!"

"…Are you talking about those four freaks…?"

Mathias yelped when he was pinned against the nearby wall, stormy blue eyes looking up at him.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Lukas asked. "Because of you and your friends, multiple lives have been lost. Some of them are dead, but the others… they're worse than dead. What were you thinking? Did you think that it was all fun and games? That what you were doing was harmless? You destroyed their lives!"

"I don't get why you're so hung up over them," Mathias said, frowning at Lukas.

Lukas shook his head.

"Forget it," he said. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. But I hope that you remember that you brought this on yourself. Now, get out."

Mathias yelped when Lukas started dragging him out of the house, and he was literally thrown out. Mathias glared at Lukas as he slammed the door, but he wasn't exactly angry. Rather, he was… afraid. Because he could see that Lukas was also afraid. But of what?

Thinking about it for a moment, he tried to recall what Lukas had said. But the more he thought about it, the less it made sense. Sure, he got the message that he had ruined their lives, and that he was a jerk. But what did Lukas mean when he said that because of him and his friends, multiple lives had been lost? And what did he mean when he said 'worse than dead'?

And the deaths… How was it Mathias's fault? Were they right? Were those four really responsible for those deaths? Or… was there something else?

Mathias stood there for a few moments before he decided on a course of action. Sighing, he started to walk away.

…

Francis smiled as he pulled into Vlad's driveway. He had brought him another plate with snacks, to be shared with his three friends.

He knew that it wasn't enough to earn their forgiveness, but he wanted to show them that he truly regretted his actions, and was willing to do anything to make it up to them.

And providing food to someone living alone was always appreciated.

He knocked on the door, but after a few minutes with occasional knocking and no one answering, Francis concluded that Vlad wasn't there. He frowned. Vlad didn't have a car, so it was hard to tell whether or not he was there.

Francis turned around and nearly jumped out of his skin. He hadn't heard anyone approach behind him.

He thought at first that it was a pretty, though scary, blonde girl. Perhaps a relative of Vlad, going by the red eyes. But then the person smirked, and Francis felt a primal fear take hold of him.

"Like, hello Francis."

…

Lovino grunted in pain when another punch hit his cheek. Natalia had moved from her position straddling his waist, only to allow Ivan access. But Natalia was still nearby, doing something with his feet.

"You caused a lot of trouble," Ivan said. "Katyusha is in trouble with the school board, because they blame her for not 'controlling' us. But she wouldn't have gotten in trouble if you had only kept quiet. You shouldn't have gotten the police involved."

"None of this would have happened if you had just left us alone," Lovino spat, glaring at Ivan.

He was rewarded with another punch, this time against his jaw. He also screamed in pain when he felt a stabbing pain in the sole of his foot, and knew that it was because Natalia had actually stabbed him.

Lovino choked on the scream. Blood was filling his mouth, slowly trickling down his throat. He couldn't identify the source of the blood. Was it a tooth that came loose? Did he bite his lip? He couldn't tell. His jaw hurt too much.

"You should learn to keep your mouth shut," Ivan said, smiling creepily.

Ivan wrapped one of his hands around Lovino's throat. Only one hand was necessary. Lovino gasped, trying to get in enough air.

"You know how you can escape."

It had been a while since he'd heard from Decay. And at that moment, Decay was the one who was there for him. If anyone was still in their houses, and they let this happen…

Because Lovino wasn't exactly being quiet in his torment.

"Maybe it would be better if you just disappeared?" Ivan asked cheerfully.

Lovino closed his eyes. He would be killed by these two psychos. And no one would say anything. They would probably get rid of his body, and no one would testify against either Ivan or Natalia.

And it wasn't as though anyone would mourn them, except perhaps Katyusha.

Lovino opened his eyes and glared at Ivan.

"Fuck it," Lovino gasped, feeling the power surge through him. "You know, you're not the first bastard that did this to me this week."

Ivan frowned, before his eyes widened and he jumped back, releasing Lovino's throat. Lovino gasped for breath, finally allowed to take some in.

"What's wrong?" Natalia asked worriedly.

"My hand…" Ivan said, before his eyes widened again.

Natalia gasped in shock and horror. Ivan's hand…

Anyone who had seen a vampire movie would recognise the scene. Ivan's hand was disintegrating, turning into dust, and it spread upwards, running up his arm.

"What's happening?" Ivan asked, looking panicked. "It hurts!"

Lovino chuckled, and the two siblings turned to him.

"Ashes to ashes, you fucker," Lovino said. "The Tomato Bastard also tried to strangle me. He's nothing but dust."

"What?" Ivan asked.

"How?!" Natalia snapped.

"This is what you've done to us," Lovino said coldly. "You bastards destroyed us. Now it's time to return the favour."

Ivan quickly stood, attempting to move away, but he let out a choking sound as he froze. His body became a collection of dust in his shape, before it collapsed.

Natalia tried to scramble away, but standing behind her was a figure that looked like Matthew, only twisted in a way. He grinned.

"You're not going anywhere," Matthew said.

Matthew's hand shot out, going through Natalia's chest. She let out a choking sound, before she slumped to the ground, dead. Matthew had attacked her heart.

Matthew looked towards Natalia's corpse before he looked up to regard Lovino, who was still sitting on the ground, propped up with one hand as the other gripped his head. He felt as though he was burning from the inside out.

"You could have stopped them," Lovino said accusingly, though without anger.

"You'll understand that we want you and Vlad to join us," Matthew said, smiling. His smile wasn't particularly kind, like it used to be, and instead radiated confidence. "Now it's just Vlad who's left."

Lovino whimpered, clutching his head.

"Your body's adjusting to the change," Matthew said. "It will end soon enough. After this pain, you'll never experience pain again. But in the meantime…"

Matthew glanced around at all the houses, a disgusted look on his face.

"Filthy cowards," Matthew said. "Or perhaps they don't care. But it doesn't matter." Matthew smirked. "Ever heard that anecdote about the Nazis?"

Lovino grunted, indicating the negative.

"'When the Nazis went after the Jews, I did nothing, for I'm not a Jew'," Matthew quoted. "'Then they went after the homosexuals. I did nothing, for I'm not a homosexual. They then went after the gypsies. I did nothing, for I am not a gypsy. And then they came for me, and there was no one left to do anything.' I think it's time for these 'Nazis' to go after filthy cowards."

Lovino didn't know what Matthew meant, but he felt a wave of power wash over him, and he instinctively knew that Matthew had used his power to kill everyone in the surrounding area. Everyone that could have helped, but who did nothing.

Matthew then turned to Lovino, and the two remained silent. After several minutes Lovino felt the pain subside, and he could also feel his very personality change. He became more confident. More… powerful. He turned to Matthew and smirked.

"I understand now," Lovino said. "Why you didn't interfere. We're alone among these… pests. We need to do whatever it takes to get others."

"And to stay together," Matthew said.

Feliks teleported next to them, and he turned to appraise Lovino.

"Welcome to the club," Feliks said.

"Grazie," Lovino said. "But we still need one more member…"

I might have gotten that anecdote wrong, but the general idea is still there. It's the same with bullying. You don't speak up if you're not affected, but expect someone to help you if you are affected.

Yeah, I watched quite a lot of vampire movies. I developed an obsession way before Twilight. Like, about seventeen years ago (and suddenly I feel very old…) – I was seven, and I liked the horror vampires. Anyway, to understand how Ivan looked like in his final moments… Think Claudia of Interview with a Vampire. Of course he didn't burn, but it's the same mental image as the vampires turning into dust.

And yet again, Lovino kills in order to save his own life.