Alfred clinched his fist tightly together at his sides, frozen from the realization of that his nightmares were actually his reality. All those dreams and sensations he'd been experiencing over the weeks were rolling like a silent film in his head as he tried his best from keeping his knees from wobbling and giving out beneath him.

Mr. Kirkland had been there that night-no-he had always been there.

The thought of that being the truth made Alfred want to be sick. The man had no limitations in the war that the neighbors secretly fought. Alfred's pained eyes glanced over to the muddy shoe print at his bedside. He almost gagged at the sight. To them it was a war, but to that man it was only a simple game. A game where every dye they cast would only steer them closer to their defeat. They were just players in a game meant to be lost, and apparently the price of loosing was-

"Alfred."

The young American looked up to meet his twin's stern stare behind those matching set of blue eyes. He looked nervous and more pale than usual, though he could tell that his brother was hiding most of his nerves beneath that clam layer he always held about him. Cool, clam, and collected-except when on the rink. That's when all hell went loose.

"Stay here." Matthew instructed while placing an assuring hand on his brothers shaking shoulder, who recoiled at the touch slightly.

"Kiku and I will go down stairs and answer the door while you stay up here, ok?"

Alfred's eyes widened while his mouth opened to protest with words that were silent and non-understandable. He quickly closed it and turned his gaze towards his Japanese friend who already had the door open and was staring back at him almost promising. Kiku smiled lightly to Alfred for brief moment before he turned and walked out the door with Matthew falling close behind, only glancing back at his brother briefly to guarantee that he was going to stay like told.

The door clicked and Alfred swallowed the words he meant to say down his throat. He couldn't say a single word or move at the thought of going downstairs and opening the door and meeting the man of his nightmares. Yet when his own brother and friend left to do what he feared, he could not stop them. He couldn't even ask them not go in case it could be dangerous.

The knocking stopped and Alfred could have sworn his heart did as well.

Who had answered it? Who would he have preferred to answer it? His friend? Brother? Or his own mother?

Alfred tangled his hands into his blonde hair, gripping at the roots tightly as he closed his eyes forcefully. It shouldn't have to be either of them. It should be him, but- He gasped as he reopened his eyes to gape out the window and across the street. He was scared… and willing to hide behind others for his own refuge. What kind of hero was that?

Through the glass and across the street, the dark Victorian house sat stiff. It blended into the trees that hid behind it and led off somewhere into the woods. The home was leaden in color but the plant life around it made it look alive, almost as if it were emerging into the growth that would soon swallow it hole in time. Time… Alfred's mind flickered to the memory of what Mr. Kirkland had mentioned about time.

Something about appreciating long strands of time and old age as a value… Alfred stared at the secluded home longer and for the first time realized just how timeworn it really beheld. How sore it stuck out from the other homes and how it distanced itself on its own plot of land.

'These walls have lived and heard more than anyone will fully hear.'

Just how old was that home?

The door behind Alfred clicked open and the teen nearly shot right out of his socks from the sudden surprise. He spun around and bit his lip as Kiku stood in the doorway. He studied his face for any sign of dismay or pain but nothing seemed to be present and the blonde felt himself let out the breath of air he had been holding in.

The corner of Kiku's lips turned upward in a small reassuring smile. "It's ok for you to come down stairs. It was not who we all assumed it would be."

The words splashed like a refreshing wave into the American who then slowly returned the small-relaxed smile at his friend. Everybody was ok.

"Where's Matt?" was the first question that popped into his mind that he needed to know.

Kiku held the door open as he nodded his head in the open direction. "Downstairs in the hallway. Come. We can all talk together about what to do next."

Alfred nodded and walked past the door that was held open for him and headed towards the stairs. As soon as he placed his hand on the stairwell bar, he looked up and saw Matthew leaning against the front door with his arms crossed as he glared out the side window. Matthew must have felt the stare and looked up to see Kiku and his brother descending down the staircase. He noted how close Kiku was to his brother and how he watched Alfred take every stair carefully as if he were going to fall…again.

The older twin un-crossed his arms and motioned for them to follow into the living room. As Alfred entered the room he noticed how the blinds were all already shut and how the strings to cast them downwards were swaying slightly from being recently pulled.

Matthew seemed to notice how his brother observed the closed windows and sighed as he sat down on the couch. "Sucks, doesn't it? To not even feel safe in your home without the thought of anothers eyes peering in on you." He shook his head and brought up his clasped hands to his lips. "I couldn't be sure so I closed them anyways."

Alfred sat beside him and let his elbows fall to his knees while resting his chin on his palms. He didn't know how to respond to that besides saying 'I'm sorry'. This was his entire fault for all that was happening to them. He made his home feel breakable and insecure to his family. It was only a matter of time before their mom started looking over her shoulder too.

Alfred looked up to Kiku who was seated across from him on the opposite couch with his posture up right. The look on his normally calm face was scrunched like he was deep in thought over something. Matthew looked the same.

"So who was at the door?" the blonde finally asked, disturbing the intellectual atmosphere. Kiku looked up at him then to Matthew as if he were to speak.

Matthew just shook his head and leaned back against the couch's backrest and crossed his arms over his chest. "Just some girl scout. She was selling cookies or something like that."

A part of Alfred wanted to ask if he had bought and cookies from her but he didn't think the question was appreciate at the moment and he'd get a smack to the back of the head. "'Something like that?' How do you not know for sure?" he questioned.

His twin just scuffed and rolled his eyes. "Sorry for not giving her my complete attention when I half expected to open the door to some crazed stalker, Al."

Alfred was quiet for a moment then opened to mouth to speak but his brother immediately cut him off, knowing what he was about to hear. "And no. I did not buy any cookies." He turned and scowled at Alfred who just flopped back and mumbled something under his breath.

"Is that how they make their sells?" Kiku spoke up, his voice sounding wary. "By knocking on ones door?"

"Something like that, yeah"

Kiku's face turned into something of distress and apprehension. "Then I pray for the small girl's safety."

Matthew and Alfred glanced at each other and grimaced, both knowing what their friend meant by those words.

"I-I doubt she would even knock on his door…" Alfred quietly noted. "Little girls are scared of houses that look all creepy and shitty, right? I'm sure she'll just skip right on by it."

Kiku looked at him for a long moment before exhaling and eyeing one of the closed windows. "I hope what you're suggesting is true." Alfred's smile dropped before he looked off somewhere too. He didn't want to think too much on the matter or else he'd end up worrying himself.

The floorboards near the hallway squeaked from someone's pressure and all three boys heads snapped up instantly, startling who had walked in.

"Goodness, boys." Mrs. Edelstein placed a hand over her heart. "Didn't mean to intrude on you all." She chuckled then looked towards the windows where no regular lighting was getting through. She curiously turned her gaze back on her sons and directed one of her slim fingers at the wall. "Is there a reason for closing my blinds on such a beautiful day? You all should be outside instead of sitting around doing nothing in the dark."

Before Matthew or Alfred could respond, Kiku was already up and opening the shades to let the light shine back into the gloom room. Mrs. Edelstein smiled and shook her head at the boy before turning her attention to her sons and raised an eyebrow as if questioning them 'aren't you going to help him?"

Both of her sons got up and started assisting Kiku while their mom folded her arms over her chest and beamed. "Now isn't that better? What a lovely day indeed…" she breathed and strode over to one of the windows and peered out upon her front lawn, darting her green eyes around the parts of the landscape that she'd need to tend to eventually. She would also need one of her sons to mow if they were up for it.

She turned around to speak to her sons about it but stopped when she spotted all three of them frozen in front of the window. All vacantly staring out as if they'd feared of actually going out there. She turned her attention to Alfred and watched her son worriedly. He physically looked fine, well, except for the bags under his eyes, but besides that he appeared healthy. She bit her bottom lip and chewed on it as she thought about what her son had told her about him fainting and recent clumsiness.

Sure, Alfred was never the graceful one to begin with, so was it something really to worry over? And him fainting… Not enough sleep? Working too hard at swim practice? He had been complaining about a lack of sleep over the last few weeks… She let out a soft sigh and shook her head. If things really did start to go downhill then she'd take him to a doctor.

"Mrs. Edelstein?" a soft voice stirred her from her thoughts. She looked down at the Japanese boy who was standing to her right, smiling softly up at her like the polite boy he was. She really approved of him being around her sons. He was such an all around good friend to them both.

"Yes, dearie?" she smiled lightly in return.

"Alfred-san, Matthew-san, and I were thinking about going to the library for the day. Will that be all right with you if we go?"

Yup, he was definitely their favorite friend.

Despite the look of confusion on her sons' faces, she just beamed at the request. "Of course! Would you all be needing a ride there?"

Kiku just shook his head. "No, but thank you. We would like to walk since today is so nice out like you said." The woman looked out the window and smiled to herself. If she didn't have so much work to do already at home then she'd be out in the yard working and planting.

"Walk!?" Alfred sputtered from behind his friend.

Kiku turned to him and gave him a look that was hinting for him to go along. Matthew caught it but Alfred didn't seem to by the pained expression in his face.

"B-But that like," he paused to do the math in his head. "17 miles from here!"

Matthew once again rolled his eyes and groaned. "It's only 3. And yet you wonder why your not getting good grades in Math class…"

Alfred shot him a glare. "Well atleast I'm not failing English..."

His twin opened his mouth but their mom spoke over top of him quickly. "Don't ruin the day by arguing you two." She looked at the small Japanese boy. "If they continue to bicker on your walk then I give you permission to put them back in line."

The dark-haired boy laughed curtly at that. "Hai. I will remember that." He then bowed his head towards her and made his way over to the door, looking back at the two other boys who were following in his footsteps closely behind.

Mrs. Edelstein smiled and waved when they slipped on their shoes and excited the door one by one. She also noticed how Alfred strangely hesitated at the door before finally taking a step to leave the house.

All three boys were quiet when they paced down their street and passed the man's house. Not a single one dared to even take a quick peek at the house as they sped walked along the sidewalk with Alfred walking in-between the two others. When they got close, Alfred could hear whispers being carried in his direction and how alive the house felt. The energy that radiated off of it was strong and dark. His feet would start to drag in the direction; causing him to stumble a couple of times and having Kiku quickly catch him.

When they were in sight of the small library up ahead, Matthew thought it was time to finally ask Kiku of his intentions for wanting to adventure there. Back at his house he saw the look on the dark-haired boys face that alerted him it was for a purpose, but he didn't want to ask when his mom was standing there or when they were near Mr. Kirkland's house.

"So, Kiku," Matthew started and slid his hands into his red hoodie. "do you want to explain why you wanted to take us to the library on a Sunday?"

Kiku grinned. "Because Libraries are closed on Sundays, meaning we will have it to ourselves to do the needed research for what we are looking for."

Matthew nodded his head in understanding. "Ok, but what exactly are we looking for?"

The Japanese and two American boys stopped at the steps of the old building and looked up at it. The building was very timeworn by the look of the aged stone and chipped boulder lion statues at the entrances sides. The medal handle bar leading up to the doors was rusted with parts of blank painted choked on some areas. Flowers grew freely beyond their rightful places in the garden, as trees extended further into one another. Sure, at some point the building must had been picturesque. But with the lack of upkeep and low popularity, the building often went untended to on the outside.

"Um, better question." Alfred spoke up, stepping in front of his friend and brother who turned their gaze to him questionably. "How the hell are we getting in if it's closed?" he asked the question like it was something obvious that the two skipped right over.

"That is a good query, Alfred'san," Kiku smirked and Alfred raised an eyebrow as his friend walked around him and up the stone stairs to the two long double deadpan doors. The twins watched curiously as Kiku removed a small stone from one of the walls and reached for something in its place. He put the old stone back and turned around with a golden key dangling in between his fingers.

"I often stay after closing hours and the librarians have trusted me with locking the building up after my leave. I am sure they wouldn't mind me using it since we will be here under reading and researching purposes." His auburn eyes gleamed as he spoke about it with a hint of deviousness in them.

Matthew nodded his head slightly impressed with the others associates while Alfred just muttered "nerd" under his breath, earning him a pinch from his brother.

Kiku unlocked the doors and held them open as his friends who entered in front of him almost warily. Once they were inside, Kiku lingered in the doorway and surveyed the streets to ensure no one saw before he too slipped inside and locked the heavy doors behind him. He raddled the handle several times to assure that the doors were indeed locked and no one else would get in.

"Why aren't the security alarms flaring and stuff?" Alfred suspected as he walked further into the lobby, looking around curiously.

Matthew laughed as they walked along side each other. "It's a library Al, not a bank. I don't really think people are going to care too much about someone breaking into here." He paused and looked up at the glass dome ceiling above their heads. He hadn't been to the town's library since he was young, so the sights were aweing him like they had years ago.

Alfred snorted at that before he too stopped to stand by his brother and look up at the light that was brightly shining through the thick glass of the beautiful cupola. There were a few spider webs up there, but that was only because it was way too high for someone to clear them all away. Plus he couldn't really imagine one of the old ladies that worked here up on a latter with a broom in hand.

"Forgot they had this." He commented and Matthew nodded in agreement, still staring upwards and watched as a few birds soared overhead and the winged creatures shadows danced over their faces.

Kiku came up behind them and looked up as well. "With the light shining through like it is, we won't be needing to turn on any lights." He commented before glancing over at the check in desk and making his way towards it.

Matthew followed while Alfred dropped his head back down and let his eyes adjust to the dim lit room. He even shook his head a few time a few time in the process.

Kiku walked around the desk before hunching down and opening up one of the wooden drawers which he'd done many times during his visiting. When he couldn't find what he was looking for, he brought out his cell phone and taped the screen to shine the light into the deep drawer full of random content. The longer haired blonde leaned over the other side of the desk and watched peculiarly to try and see what the other was exactly looking for down there.

After opening a few more drawers and scanning the surface of the desk thoroughly, Kiki stood back up and scratched the back of his head confused by his routed search. Matthew noticed his distress and drew his attention.

"Something the matter?"

The other boy signed shook his head slightly at loss. "No, it's just…" he glanced around the desk again and lifted up a book from its surface before tossing it aside. "There used to be several flashlights last time I was here."

"Are you sure?"

He looked up at the American with hard eyes. "I am positive because I am the one who placed them here."

Matthew leaned up from the desk and slid his hand through his hair while looking around the obscure long passageways where the light could not reach. "I'm sure we'll be fine. We will just have to read whatever we unearth right here under the dome." He looked back to his twin who was still standing in the middle of the floor absentmindedly. "Isn't that right, Al?"

Alfred retorted from his daydreaming and looked up puzzled before giving them thumbs up. Matthew just shook is head and looked back at the smaller boy from around the ligneous desk. "Will the computers work even if the power for the lights are out?"

Kiku shook his head before pausing and looking off somewhere. "The laptops will… but we would have to be quick before they die from lack of power." He looked at the door behind him before opening it and vanishing inside. As Matthew waited for him to return with the laptop, he rotated around and observed his brother who was rolling back and forth on his heels, obviously just being inside a library bored him. He didn't know how he was going to get him to open any of the books and actually read the content that was inside.

"Hey, Al." his twin looked up and plopped forward on feet from his heel rolling. "Kiku is getting us a laptop so we can do some searching, wanna go grab a seat at one of the tables?"

There wasn't anything else for him to do so Alfred slowly marched over to the one of the many open tables and plopped down in one of the hard wooden chairs. He frowned as he leaned back and tried to get comfortable in the seat. How did they expect people to read comfortably with chairs such as these? He wobbled around until he heard the chair crack, quickly causing him to freeze and pray the chair wouldn't collapse right from underneath him. When he looked up he saw his brother staring at him with knotted eyebrows before looking away.

Alfred clasped his hands over one another on his stomach and stared back up at the glass dome. His mind couldn't catch up with all the things he had been through during the week. There were still so many questions he had about what was going on and why it was even happening to him in the first place. Here they were having Kiku break into a library just so they could search the shelves for some information that probably didn't exist to begin with.

What were they even going to do if they did happen to discover something about their situation? Use the books knowledge and storm into Mr. Kirkland's home and defeat him after a few trail and errors? The worst part of it all was that this wasn't some horror movie where the hero had a shot of saving himself along with his friends. Alfred was having an extremely hard time trying to cope with the realization that he wasn't the one who was saving others; it was he who needed the saving.

Something stirred in Alfred's stomach that made him clutch his sides uncomfortably. He wiggled again in his chair and ignored the creaks it made as it shifted around from his movements. He tried swallowing the slight pain but he found that hard with his mouth being completely dry. That morning he didn't have the apatite for any of the food his mother had made him, nor was he hungry for something like that now. He felt thirsty, but also craved to bite into something. His stomach groaned in protest but he ignored it and looked up into the sky to distract himself from the mounting problem within him. A few more birds flew overhead and he watched them disappear out of view quickly but not before he recognized that one of them had been a red cardinal.

Red

The chair next to him was pulled out as someone seated themself down in it before placing something onto the table in front of them. Alfred looked over at Kiku who was seated and opening a black laptop that turned on while doing so.

"Are you all right, bro?" Alfred turned to his left and saw that his brother had seated himself on his other side and was darting his eyes to the hold he had around his waist. Alfred gulped dryly and let his sides go then slid his hands into his jackets pockets with a slight shrug.

"Yeah, why?" he questioned, hoping his twin didn't catch the way his voiced cracked when he responded.

Matthew eyed him for a moment before letting his hand drop. "You just seemed out of it a moment ago. I just wanted to make sure you're fine." Alfred looked at him blankly before shrugging his shoulders again and weakly grinning.

"Its just old libraries aren't really my kind of place for hanging around in. Kinda creepy and the dust in the air isn't really helping me like the place any better."

"Uh-huh…" Matthew eyed him but let it go. If something were wrong surely Alfred would definitely tell them about it.

Alfred looked away and minded as Kiku typed quickly into the keys like he was in some sort of rush. "Do always type like that, pal?" Alfred asked in surprise.

Kiku didn't look at him but shook his head. "No. The power level is low and it is the only laptop we have. I do not wish to waste time by going slowly with the easy task."

When he pulled a webpage up on screen it displayed many links that led to several different places. His dark eyes scanned over them as he muttered under his breath while doing so. His brown eyes stopped on one link before he clicked it and all three of them watched it direct them to some sort of supernatural blog home page.

Matthew scooted his chair closer and leaned in around his brother to read what was on the page. "Behold the real life stories of what lurks beneath our beds?" he read aloud skeptically. "You sure this page is a reliable source for what we're looking for?"

"Well what kind of page do you think we're looking for, Matt?" Alfred scuffed. "101 ways to tell your neighbor is a demon?"

Matthew glared at the side of his head before scanning his eyes over the page some more. "Ok then, so what exactly is it we are looking for?"

Kiku was scrolling down the page while he briefed over different links till he found the right one and clicked on it. He looked over his shoulder at Matthew then to Alfred. "Since we do not have much information on this Kirkland man to search for anything with his specific characteristics, we will have to search for stories that resemble Alfred-sans."

Matthew then turned to stare at Alfred who kept his eyes on the screen. "His story? You think whatever has been happening to Alfred has happened to others before him?"

"Hai. I do not believe Alfred-san can be the only one. If this has happened before then I am almost positive their story has been shared." Kiku looked at his friend and frowned. "Is there more that you need to tell us that may help in our search?"

Alfred shook his head and looked up at him. Kiku saw first hand what happened to him when over at Mr. Kirklands when he couldn't recall it all. The experience didn't seem real to him. It felt like a nightmare where the pain and fear were real and inescapable. "Just type in something about goddamn fruit and creepy old stalkers." For some reason he bit his tongue after saying it. Like he had said something that was deemed wrong in some parts of his mind. He ignored it and watched as Kiku typed in several key words into the generator before clicking enter and watching it reveal list of titles followed by the story's definitions right underneath.

"Whoa. Are those all stories like Alfred's?" Matthew questioned in slight disbelief at what he was seeing.

Kiku shook his head and started scrolling again. "No. They are just the ones with matching words that I used. We will have to read through the summaries of each one and find one that matches in some way."

"There's over 134 pages of them, guys. Are we seriously going to read through them all?"

"Do you wanna find help are not, Al? We can't just sit here and wait for some damn answer to fall right out of the sky for us, can we?"

Alfred clicked his tongue and rested his fist right under his chin. "Just saying that's a lot and we won't have time to look at them all with a laptop low battery. Isn't that right, Kiku?"

Kiku hovered the mouse over the battery symbol and sighed. It had less than 20% left on it and they needed much more to continue their search. "Alfred-san is right, but we will get what we can before we move the search to the shelves-wait."

The twins instantly sat up at the change in the others voice as they watched him lean in towards the screen and read under his breath. "Well what did you find?"

"Yeah, spill."

Kiku cleared his throat before he began reading aloud for them to hear his promising discovery in their search. "It's supposed to be a story about a young boy who disappeared after constantly being given free fruit from a mysterious man at the markets…"

Both American boys gulped and glanced at each other at the summary. "W-Well maybe it's a story about a nice man who gave away food to the poor? Stuff like that happens all the time, am I right?" Matthew and Kiku ignored Alfred as he slid down deeper in his chair.

"Click the link to the article, Kiku." Matthew instructed and Kiku agreed and opened up a whole new blog doing so. They both instantly noticed that the language wasn't in English so Kiku found a button on the page that requested for the page to be translated for them.

"What language was that?" Matthew muttered.

"I believe it was Italian."

The page finally loaded and Matthew hopped up to move to the other side of Kiku to be closer to the screen. "Lost Fratello." The blonde spoke the foreign sounding title aloud. He didn't know what the word meant but it bothered Matthew greatly and he couldn't help but stare at his brother who was slumped in his chair on the other side of Kiku.

"Would you like me to read it aloud to you, Alfred-san?" he noticed how his friend wouldn't even look up at the screen or even move from his position next to him. He saw the slow head nod from him so he returned his auburn eyes back to the screen.

"It takes place in 1957 in Rome, Italy."

"That far and old?" Matthew questioned but Kiku just nodded, not wanting to break from his speech.

"There were once two Italian brothers were orphaned in Rome after their father died from the war and their mother abandoned them by committing suicide. They grew up on their own and doing whatever mercifulness task they were requested just so they could supply themselves with the necessities to survive after being forcefully evacuated from their home. They grew up on the streets, learning how to steal and scrap by on coins. One of them became severely sick so the other learned how to polish shoes to earn a few more coins to buy his brother medicine. The sick brother couldn't work because of his health, so he'd beg for food in the markets to bring back for him and his brother to eat. Because of his poor attire and health, he was rudely ignored and shop owners would often kick him from their curb and make him beg elsewhere. For days he'd return home with nothing to eat and all the money his brother earned would go towards medicine for him, so they'd go to bed starving."

Kiku hesitated to look at the twins who were both looking down into their laps. He knew the story must have been hard for them to hear since he fully knew that both of them would do the same for one another if they were in a similar situation.

"While the brother was off at work, the sick one would go again to the markets to plea for food that he knew he wouldn't ever receive. After being beaten and denied, he gave up and sat by a fountain in defeat with another futile day. While wallowing in sorrow by himself, he was approached by a man who didn't say a single word to the boy. All he did was offer the younger a single tomato. The boy took the fruit and rushed home to wait for his brother to show him that he had been graced with food. He wanted to supply for his brother like he always had for him. But as the young Italian boy sat on his rug in the alley and waited for his brother's return, he couldn't wait any longer and ate the tomato for himself. When the working brother finally retuned he would lie and tell him that he came home empty handed. The next day the sick brother returned to the markets and waited by the same fountain in case the same man would return as well. To his delight the man did and gave the boy another tomato and not another word was said between the two as the brother ran home. And like the night before, he ate the gracious fruit for himself. Days passed and the sick brother didn't feel sick anymore. He didn't tell his brother this because he was afraid he'd quite his job and follow him to the markets. The brother waited by the fountain everyday and would receive the fruit and return home like usual, except this time the working brother was there when he got back. He saw the fruit and was joyed that his brother atlas came home with food for them, but the sick brother panicked and ate the fruit before the others drained eyes."

"One night the working brother awoke to find that his brother was missing from next to him. He searched for him and found him asleep by the city's fountain, like he was waiting for someone. It started to happen night after night so the working brother decided to skip work and follow secretly follow the other and see what he did about his day. Once again he found his brother at the fountain waiting. He was about to approach him until he saw a stranger approach his brother first and hand him red tomato. He watched as his brother would not say a word and leave. The working brother confronted him that night about the man and the tomato but his sick brother denied it. He let it go for the night and fell asleep with brother close at his side. Once again he awoke in the night to find him gone but he knew he'd return as always when the sun would rise, so the working brother fell back asleep. The working brother awoke to the sun and turned to greet his poor sick brother but saw that he wasn't there. He rushed to the fountain but he wasn't there either. He sat all day and waited for him to return home but he never did. The working brother went to the fountain and sat and waited for the man to appear but he didn't show either. They were both gone and the working brother never saw his brother again."

Silence lingered in the library as all three boys stared off in different directions with all different expressions. Either of them didn't know how to respond. They didn't even know how to piece it together with their own story without it leading their thoughts to a atrocious outcome.

"I-I…" Alfred buried his face into his hands. He didn't know what he was going to say. He didn't know how to tell them how much that story related to him and he feared he'd receive the same fate like the sick brother. He ate the tomato then vanished in the night.

"I-I ate the apple…" he whispered distantly.

Kiku sadly looked at him and reached for him but retracted his hand. "You only ate what he'd given you. The boy had been eating the tomatoes for weeks. There is still time to help you." He whispered back confidently.

Alfred shook his head several times in his hands at that. He had to tell them the truth.

Matthew slowly stood with a look on his face of horror with his noise wrinkled up in slight disgust. "The pie…" he slid his hand through his hair and gripped it tightly. "Oh my god you ate that whole apple pie he'd given us…no, he'd given you…" he looked at his brother pained with the realization. Him and his mother were allergic to apple, but somehow the man knew that and that's why he'd given it. He knew only Alfred would eat it.

Kiku snapped his head to the other twin who was standing. "He what!?" he stood as well, only leaving Alfred sitting in agony.

Matthew just shook his head trying to absorb it all in. "That plate you were returning the other day used to be full of an entire apple pie that Mr. Kirkland had baked. Al ate the whole thing in one night."

Kiku gulped. "How many apples do you assume were baked into it?"

Matthew shrugged. "More than a dozen at least." He looked at his staggering twin in the chair. "So we know he ate what that man fed him and that pie. That's about it, right?"

Alfred's breath hitched in his throat at his words. No, it wasn't. There was another before all of that. It was what started it all. The first tomato that drove the sick brother mad for more.

"Right, Al?" he asked again as Alfred just sighed. The Japanese boy narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously before they widened at a undeniable memory prior to all of this.

"No… He ate one before too."

So Kiku now knew, Alfred thought. He stood up and hung his hand in shame as he felt the other's eyes burning holes into him.

"The one that was presented as a gift for you at school that morning. The one I smacked from your hands and watched go rolling across the floor." Kiku's face grew redder as he went on and noticed his friend flinch at his words. "You went back and retrieved it, didn't you? You went behind my back, against my request, and took that apple with you home to eat! Didn't you!?"

Matthew watched as Kiku fumed at his brother about something neither of them had shared with him. He stared at the guilt on Alfred's face and could only imagine how he must have felt on the inside knowing that he started all of this. By the way that Kiku was explaining, Alfred had the chance for this to never happen to him. Kiku was there and tried to help him, stir him in the right direction but his stubborn brother and his damn curiosity got the best of him like always. Matthew clenched his fist at his sides angrily. He wanted to punch his brother but he knew he shouldn't because he was still the damn victim in all of this.

Alfred desperately looked up and saw his brother's fist, he frowned then looked at Kiku who was positively glaring at him. They both looked furious with him but he didn't blame them. He started this mess and now he was bringing them down with him.

"I'm sorry, Kiku…If I had known that eating that apple would have started any of this shit than I would have never-"

"I tried warning you!" Kiku barked and Alfred cringed back. Never had he heard Kiku yell like that or even get this angry.

"Yeah and I wished I had listened! I get you're mad, all right!? But don't you think I feel just as horrible since I'm the one who brought this upon myself when I could have prevented it!?" Alfred took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes angrily. "God, I know that I'm a total mess up and if I had known that any of this would be the result then I would have fuckin' chucked that apple out the window! Jeez, I wish I could just go back. Mostly just to slap myself more than anything."

Kiku shut his mouth and looked away. Alfred had messed up and he knew that. That's all he really wanted his friend to know before this all escalated for the worse for them. There was no going back and fixing it because if they had, that man would still be living across the street from them. Kiku let out a deep breath and looked back at his friend flatly. He looked as though almost on the verge of tears. He must really be beating himself up on the inside then.

"Alfred-san… You have to promise us right now that you will not eat any more apples that are presented to you. Not matter where they come from you still can not eat them, understand?" Kiku stepped forward and rested his hand on the blondes quivering shoulder. "Let us stop this before it gets any worse."

Alfred weakly smiled and placed his hand over top his friends. "I fuckin' promise. No more apples for me." He breathlessly laughed.

Matthew watched them silently from where he stood. He part of him wanted to comfort his twin as well but another part wasn't quite ready to forgive him yet. He looked away and on to the computer screen with the story still open. He pulled out the chair and sat himself down, running his eyes over the screen in search of something that could assist them further. A link under the title drew his attention so he clicked it and watched as a new tab opened with a page all about the author.

"Hey, guys." He looked back at them. "Come look at this." The two boys walked over and looked upon the screen as well at what he was pointing at. "Apparently there's a whole book about this guy and his views of the paranormal and magic and such. Do you think the library might have it?"

The Japanese boy stood up and rubbed his chin. "There's a chance that they do. What is the name of the author?"

"Feliciano Vargas."

"And what category does the book fall under?"

Right when Matthew looked back at the screen it turned black. It died. "Damn it…" he slammed it shut as Kiku watched disapprovingly.

"There is a chance it could either be a biography, horror/thriller, or fictional book. We will just have to search all that it may fall under."

Matthew stood up and looked around the large room and the many dark aisles of nothing but shelves of books upon books. "Is that how this library is laid out?"

"Hai. First but genre then authors last name. I have come so often that the last name Vargas doesn't come to mind, but we will search anyhow. There is a greater chance of finding it here than the library at school. We can also search for books that will have eerie creatures in them. Find what you can and bring them all back here." Kiku picked up the laptop and looked at the twins. "I'll go put this back and you both start searching."

"W-Wait!" Alfred gulped out. "How are we supposed to read the title or spine? It's too dark down the aisles."

"Just use your phones as a flashlight. It's all we have." Kiku turned and left the blondes standing around the wooden table.

"This is going to take forever…" Alfred groaned while rubbing the bridge of his noise.

"It's all we got." Matthew corrected next to him. "I'll take the bibliography aisle to my right. You can scan the horror/thriller aisle to my left." He pointed its direction as Alfred's eyes followed.

"Oh gee thanks, Matt. Give me the darker side with the creepy books." He muttered but his brother was already hiking away from him.

Alfred removed his phone from his pocket and slowly entered the narrow aisles with bookstands nearly 10 feet tall. "How the hell am I supposed to look up there?" The blonde continued walking until the aisle got too dark for him to even see what was in front of him. Several times he'd bump right in the shelf or he'd trip over his own feet. God he hated libraries. He stopped when he assumed he was far enough back and brought his phone up to a shelf to his right and started shining his phone on the books spine.

He was in the T 's. He kept his light on the spines as he continued walking forward until he got to the U ' s and at last to the V ' s. He knew he was supposed to be looking for a name but it was hard to concentrate with his throat parched and his mind trying its best not to think about it. His attention wandered back to the story about the two Italian brothers. About how the working brother would spend hours slaving away to give all his earnings to his sick brother, while he received food and kept it to himself. It was wrong of him to do but what if he had given the fruit to his brother? Then they'd both be obsessed with the fruit.

Alfred stopped walking and let his phone go black. Was he obsessed with the apple? Kiku made him promise to never eat another one again but that was going to be impossible when all he could think about was those goddamn apples and its sugary sweet taste-

"Ah fuck." He groaned and rubbed his face tiredly. Who was he kidding? He couldn't resist for wanting more. Sure, he wouldn't eat them in front of his family of in school, but what if alone? No. He shook his head. He couldn't do that to himself. All he was doing was digging himself a deeper grave and Mr. Kirkland was supplying him with the shovel.

Alfred took a couple a deep calming breaths before bringing his phone up in front of him and clicking the button to light up the screen. Before he took another step forward he turned his phone outwards so he'd see what was in front of him, and something he definitely didn't expect to see was a man's face appearing from the dark.

AN: Sorry for this being late (like seriously, sorry). Tell me what you all think is going to happen next (guess you won't though) and I would love some feedback about the Vargas little story I put in there. It will come up again in a lovely surprise. Thanks for reading!