The house was hushed when the possessors were laid to sleep upstairs in their beds. Nothing stirred the air but the soft breaths and the evenly paced snores. Every light in the house was shut off to darken the hidden places where the midnight moons light couldn't reach. The moon wasn't full, but it shined just as bright to lighten the glazed yards and reflect in the backyard pools. The night was relaxed and cooed those who worked hard in the day to surrender into rest.

Even as the night seemed all but peaceful and harmless, not all those who lurked in it were the same.

A breeze blew in through an open back door and a young blond shivered when it graced him. He buried his head into his crossed arms and clutched the sides of them. The breeze blew again but this time colder and enough to stir the hair on the sunny blonds head. Goose bumps rose from his tan skin and the tiny hairs on his arms prickled.

When the night's breeze came again it carried a name along with it, singing into the slumbers' ear. It sang the name not once but twice softly. It repeated enough till the boy stirred from his sleep.

Alfred raised his head slowly, squinting his eyes into the darkness unknowingly. When the voice came again the American withdrew from his dream state and looked around. Alfred winced slightly when he sat up straight. He wondered why his back ached then realized he wasn't in his bed or in his room.

The teen batted his eyes into the empty kitchen where he was sitting. The microwave light was all that was on but it was far too hard to read for the blonde. Everything in the dark room seemed blurry until his eyes focused on one certain object, an apple pie. It rested directly in the middle of the table untouched. Alfred looked at it as if confused because it was odd for his mother to leave something out uncovered and the fact that there wasn't a single slice missing.

Alfred stood from the wooden table and yawned from still being exhausted. He didn't remember falling asleep in the kitchen but he was starting to get used to waking up in random places. He was just about to walk down the hall to go up stairs but stopped when a cool breeze seemingly came from nowhere and brushed up against that back of his exposed neck.

Turning around in confusion, Alfred noticed that their back screen door was wide open. Walking clumsily over to the door he grabbed hold of the handle and pulled but it went nowhere. Using more muscle, he pulled with both hands but the door stayed in place undisturbed. Agitated, the blond stepped back to figure out why the door wouldn't budge. Nothing stood in its way, so what was forcing it to stay open?

"Alfred."

The American froze dead in his tracks. The wind picked up outside causing the air to stir and glide through the open door and into his face. Alfred closed his eyes and the chilly fall air nipped at his cheeks and caressed through his hair.

"Come to me, Alfred." The air carried the faint words with it.

The event made the teen's heart race and his senses go into over drive. His eyesight that was usually completely useless seemed to clear up just barely. As scared as the blond was, he couldn't resist but to go to the caller of his name. Placing one hand on the open door and the other out in front of him, Alfred left the comfort of his home and wandered out into the darkness of his backyard.

With the yard nothing but ghostly and dark, he felt lost in his tracks and came to a stand still. Alfred swallowed thickly and narrowed his eyes in front of him in hope of finding something to guide him. "Where are you?" He softly asked the night.

A rushed breeze came from behind him and pushed him forward. Alfred took that as a sign and let the wind guide him in the direction he had asked for.

His toes stung from the cold ground as he walked onward. At some point he felt cement under his feet but it soon ended when the feeling of moist grass tickled his toes. The wind stopped and Alfred was able to make out his new surroundings quite blankly. It appeared to him that he was standing in the middle of a field. He looked up at the moon that was half smiling down upon him and the grassy field. Where was he?

"There you are."

Suddenly the peaceful air around him turned thick and heavy. He gasped when he breathed in and it weighed him down and made his chest hurt. "What the hell-?" he muttered, balling his shirt in his hand over his chest. He nearly doubled over from the heaviness of air. He never felt so weak and anxious before in his entire life. Alfred clutched his sides and closed his eyes tightly; wishing whatever was engulfing him would just go away.

"Let me break you from your morality binds. Come."

Alfred opened an eye and saw a man standing with him in the middle of the open field. "W-who are you...?"

With Alfred bending over in pain, the man stood powerfully overtop of him. "Your master, now come." He held out a hand so pale that it almost appeared he wore a white glove.

Alfred didn't know why, but his feet started moving forward to the dark stranger that commanded him. The walk over to him felt like hours as the wet grass stuck to his lazy feet on his march. With one hand still clutching his side across his stomach, Alfred reached out with his other hand to grab hold of the ashen one.

When the blonde's hand was rested atop the others, the stranger gently wrapped his fingers around his and tugged the boy into his arms swiftly. Alfred let himself be pulled forward and breathed out heavily when the dark heavy air was lifted from his shoulders and removed from his lungs. Being in the man's arms felt simulating, safe and somewhat enchanting. Alfred never felt so at ease and protected by anything in such a way till that very moment. He was safe...he was safe with only him...

"That's a good boy. Find comfort in this old arms that pose to shield you." The man soothed while running his hand through Alfred's hair like one would do to a small child.

Alfred breathed out and back in to take in the man's scent. He smelt of apples something so odd that the American couldn't put a name to the smell. It was a scent that he had never come into contact with before. But whatever it was made his stomach turn and tell him to let go, to run away and never be so close to something that emitted such a fragrance.

He opened his blue eyes when a hint of pain still to erupt on his right shoulder. He wobbled in the man's grasp uncomfortably as the pestering pain grew and grew till he couldn't stand it anymore. "Make it stop!" He panicked and tried to pull himself free but the man only tightened his hold on him.

"Be still and wait it out, young one. The pain is just a phase before the revival."

But Alfred wanted it to end that very second. He couldn't wait out the pain that burned his skin beneath his clothing. The blond managed to get a hand up to his right side and grabbed the rim of his shirt to yank it down. He gasped when his shirt started to soak in something red and warm. It was then in the moonlight that hung overhead that Alfred realized it was blood.

His blood.

"No-!" He cried in more fear than pain. "Why are you doing this to me?!" Alfred just struggled more against the man who was gazing down at him pitifully.

"You will recognize once the pain recedes, Alfred. Find ease in my hold till that time comes." He soothed, pulling the younger closer.

"I don't want to understand! Just. Let. Me. GO!" Alfred shouted and pushed with all his might and went tumbling backward onto the grass. He gasped at the pain in his wounded shoulder and looked up at the man he moments ago felt safe with.

"Alfred, don't fight it. You can no longer win a battle when you've already surrendered." He announced tonelessly, taking a small step closer to the boy on the ground.

Alfred scrambled backward trying to distance himself by kicking his feet at the dirt and using one hand to pull himself up. "Fight against what?! What have I already surrendered to you?!" He screamed back with tears rushing down his puffed cheeks.

The man stopped, just feet away from the fretting American teen. He smiled at him, revealing his gleaming white sharpened teeth.

Alfred gasped at the full mouth of daggered teeth and feared for his life. The moon was shining directly behind the man whose green eyes shined brighter.

"Your freedom."

Alfred didn't have time to register the words before the man leapt forward with his sharpened nails and the illuminating night when black.

"NO!"

Matthew staggered backward at the sudden outburst and clenched his chest from almost having a heart attack. "Jesus, Alfred! What the hell!?" he huffed out at his twin sprung up from his sleeping position on their kitchen table. "You seriously need to stop doing that!"

Alfred sat straight up in his chair in a breathing mess. Sweat covered his face and practically dripped from the tips of his hair. He looked around panicking because he couldn't see where he was or who was there but Matthew. "W-Where am I?" He asked feeling his hand out in front of him for assurance from his twin.

Matthew's frustration dissolved with the look on his brother's face of fear and the helplessness in his voice. He softly gripped Alfred's hand in his and held on to it comfortingly. "You're in the kitchen, Al. You fell asleep down here last night after dinner. Don't you remember?" By the look on the others face he could tell that he probably didn't and he was still shook up about something.

The younger blond held his hand just as tightly and shook his head while trying to recall the night's events. He couldn't remember anything from the previous night but his dream. A dream where he was lured from his home and left alone with a man who claimed to own him, care for him, and hurt him. The weirdest part was that the face of the man from his dream was enclosed in darkness, so he had no idea who it had been.

"I-I don't really remember. Are you sure I've been here all night? I never left to go anywhere?" He set his weak gaze on his brother.

"I'm pretty sure you were here the whole time. I mean, how would I know otherwise if you were alone down here? I was in our room asleep." Panic crossed his brother's features and Matthew felt sorry for him. "Look Al," he knelt down to his brothers seating level. "All that happened last night after dinner was that Mr. Kirkland left, we cleaned up, and you crashed after eating that pie."

"All of it?" Alfred asked bewildered. He could eat a whole chocolate pie easily but eating something filled with fruit was something new.

"Er-yeah... As soon as mom cut a slice you gulped it down then just started eating the pie out of the pan. It looked as though you haven't eaten in weeks." Matthew smiled and shook his head at the memory. "Mom and I were too scared to try to stop you so we just let you be."

"All of it..." Alfred repeated aloud to himself. Memories of the delicious dessert were staring to resurface in his head and on his tongue. His mouth watered just imaging the savoring sugary juice filling his mouth then sliding down his throat. The taste wasn't like anything he ever had before, it was almost addicting to his taste buds now.

"Are you sure there's no more? Did you watch me finish all of it!?" He asked with hopes it wasn't true. He had to have more.

"Whoa there, Al! Calm down, eh? I swear that there's no more!" When Alfred's grip on his hand didn't loosen, he took off his glasses and put them on his brother's face. "Here, have a look for yourself."

Alfred blinked a couple of times to get his eyes to adjust. His brother had a different prescription than him but it did make things more reasonably clear. "Where's the plate it came in?" He looked to the table and didn't find it there like in his dream where it sat full and untouched. If it had been full last night but empty like Matthew had explained before he fell asleep, then everything was surly a dream. The man was nothing but a figure in his nightmares.

"In the sink, though I think mom already cleaned it even after you practically licked it spotless." Matthew noted, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter as he watched his brother wander over to the sink.

Alfred looked in the bowl and saw that the plate container was clean and flawless just like he was told. The delicious dessert was completely gone when his stomach craved for more. The American sighed and jumped up to sit on the kitchen counter. "That pie was seriously the best thing I've ever eaten in my life, Matt. We need to get another somehow."

Matthew raised and eyebrow at him and scuffed in amusement to his brothers cravings. "Sure, lets just invite Mr. Kirkland over for dinner more often then, eh? But only if he brings his magical desserts he's allowed in right?"

Alfred rolled his eyes but paused when his brother's words hit him. "Wait, say that again?"

The other just looked at him oddly. "Invite Mr. Kirkland over for dinner more often?"

Alfred groaned and shook his head. "No! The part after that!"

"Uh, something about bringing magical desserts?" He said slowly, confused as to why he was repeating himself.

Alfred stared hard and long at the wall in front of him, trying to register what he was storming about in his head. "Magical desserts... I-I think we're finally on to something."

"Hm? How so?" The older one asked still lost.

"I think that pie really was magical, Matt. I mean lets be serious for a moment, kay?" He jumped from the counter and made his way down the hall with his brother following close behind.

"Serious about what, Al?" He asked when they both reached their room and Alfred went straight over to their window to set up his telescope. Matthew shut the door behind him and went over to stand next to the window and the device that was being set up.

"About the fact that Mr. Kirkland is British. Isn't it obvious yet?"

Matthew scrunched his lips and shook his head. "Still need help with this one."

Alfred groaned in annoyance and stood up to face with brother. "He's British and he cooks a good pie! That's impossible! You know why?"

"He took cooking lessons?"

"No!" He flung his arms in the air wildly at his own excitement. "He used magic! Mr. Kirkland is a wizard!"

The room was pretty silent expect for the heavy huffs that Alfred was releasing from his huge triumphant explanation.

"A wizard..." Matthew repeated and quirked an eyebrow at him.

Alfred hummed and nodded his head.

Then the tranquil room was filled with laughter as the older blond doubled over, clutching his sides. "Pfftt-a wizard! Oh maple I can't breathe!" He cried from laughing so hard and nearly fell over.

Alfred's face was flabbergasted. His mouth hung open from his brother's reaction to his assumption.

"W-What's next? He-He has a pet white owl and flies around on a damn b-broom stick!?" He managed to get out in between the thrill. "Oh maple it hurts!" He then fell backward onto his bed and started rolling side to side.

Alfred looked elsewhere and growled. "You know what Matt!? Fuck off! He's gunna come for you and-"

"-And what!? Cast a spell on me!?" he cried, "Am I gunna turn into rat!? Don't worry Al, I'll go find a twig in the yard and defend myself!"

"You are such an asshole! Jeez Matt! Forget I said anything at all and good luck with defending yourself! Not!" Alfred stormed over to their bedroom door and opened it to leave his brother in the ridiculous state he was in. "Oh and guess what? I'm keeping these glasses!" He said before slamming the door shut behind him.

Alfred marched the down stairs grunting and cussing curses at his brother under his breath. He couldn't believe how his own twin took him as some joke! Why didn't he understand that Mr. Kirkland could possibly be an actual wizard!? It was so obvious! The blond paused in his march when a thought struck him. The British man said he was a teacher...that could only me one thing... "He's a teacher of the Dark Arts! Ha! Case closed!" He excitedly perked up and ran into the kitchen to pick up his phone to make a call just as his mother walked in.

"Oh, you're up early on a Saturday. Is everything all right?" She asked while gathering her purse in her arms and keys in an other her hand.

Alfred grinned at her and nodded. "Yup! Everything's swell! Well-er sorta."

She smiled at him and went over to the sink to place her coffee down to be rinsed. She noticed the clean pan in there that she had cleaned from the night before and turned to face her son. "Alfred dear, do you mind dropping this pan off at Mr. Kirkland's? I told him I'd return it as soon as possible."

Alfred froze at her words and just stared at the sink. Finally the person he was calling picked up and said hello. "Uh, hold on for a second, Kiku." The American put his hand against the phone so he could speak with his mom. "Can't Matt go instead?" He pleaded but his mom just shook her head.

"Sorry sweetie, but you're the only one who ate it last night. It's up to you to return it and tell him thank you for bringing it over. I'm sure he'll love to hear how much you enjoyed it." She looked at her wristwatch and sighed. "I need to get to work now. Make sure you return it by this morning, ok?"

Alfred held himself back from rolling his eyes and agreed just to make his mother happy. She smiled and kissed the top of his head then left out the garage door to her car. Alfred waited till she shut the door to begin talking to his friend again.

"Sorry about that, Kiku. So hey, how fast do you think you could get over here? I need your help with something pretty important and bring that book of yours about Japanese mystical creatures while you're at it. We're going over to Mr. Kirkland's together."