Graveyard Shift

by The Can-Can group

Going through the graveyard was a bad idea. Tree demons are out to eat them, zombies are roamin’ around, and old man Jenkins is sharpening his ax. Implied SxR. DISCONTINUED!

2. Perforated Monkey Meat

Disclaimer:

I have no claims to Kingdom Hearts. At all. Belongs to the respective owners. Who aren't me…

Graveyard Shift

Chapter Two: Perforated Monkey Meat

Plot by: The Can-Can group

Warnings: More implied shounen-ai. Don't like don't read.

Chapter summary: They should've known that going through the graveyard was a bad idea. Aliens are abducting the villagers, vampires are killing cows, and Old Man Jenkins is finally finished sharpening the ax.

0000

Riku stared out of the window. "Great," he muttered as he stepped out of the creaky bed and planting his feet onto the even more creaky floor. "My eyes are playing tricks on me." Must've been the tea, Riku figured. Certainly tasted badly enough to do something like make him sees mirages.

Shaking his head, which caused the silver wisps to get in his face, Riku tiptoed to the door. He cringed at the loud creaking and groaning of the door. Hesitatingly, he turned to see if he had awoken either occupants of the room. When Kairi's soft snores returned to his ears, Riku deemed it safe enough to push himself through the small crack he created between the door and the jamb.

Quietly, he walked down the steps, wincing at the usual stair sounds. He briefly wondered why old houses always had to have noises. Made for (he didn't want to use "sneaking" but it seemed like the correct word to use) sneaking around rather difficult.

His sock covered foot reached the middle step when a horrifyingly loud noise made him nearly fall down the stairs after jumping slightly. It sounded something akin to a monster mating with its ugly girlfriend. Probably even worst than that. It sounded more like the noise his great aunt made when she used the toilet. He gave a shudder at the memory of having to visit the old bat.

The noise echoed along the house, making Riku wonder just how much of heavy sleepers his two friends were. The sound reached the end of its crest and the beginning of its valley, leaving another unnatural silence. Riku took a cautious step down and another. On the third step, the sound came back with another roar. He didn't jump as high that time.

By the time he reached the main floor, Riku realized the sound was rhythmic and was coming from the living room, located right of the stairs. With more caution, he poked his head around the corner to investigate.

The noise, as most would've figured by now, was Mr. Jenkins's own snoring. He felt relieved and oddly disappointed at the same time. He had forgotten that the three friends had taken the only bedroom in the house and the old man decided that he would just take the couch in the living room.

"Riku!"

Said boy jumped when his name was called from behind his unsuspecting person. "Holy crap!" He shouted as he turned towards the equally surprised (more at Riku's reaction than anything else) Sora. "What is up with people coming from behind me!" He almost said scare him, but Riku didn't want to admit that he was scared.

"I've been calling your name several times all ready. I was also standing in front of you when you came down the stairs."

"Oh…"

Sora sighed.

Riku then blinked. His eyes, having been adjusted to the darkness, noticed the drenched spikes of his friend's hair. "You were outside."

Sora nodded. "I noticed before going to bed that I had lost my necklace." He took out the muddy crown necklace from a pocket and showed it to Riku.

"Where did you lose it?"

"The crypt," Sora gave a sigh of relief. "I thought I nearly lost it…" If he had, Sora would've made Riku look for it until they found it. Of course, Riku wouldn't have complained about searching for it. Sora's dad had given it to him when he was four, a few years before he had disappeared. If Riku had lost such a memento, he'd be on the warpath of finding it.

"One more thing…" Sora pulled Riku into the nearby kitchen, away from the old man to not wake him up. "The door of the Old House was wide open. On my way back, I went in to check it out-"

"Huh?"

Sora grinned. "You would not believe all the stuff in there! It's really amazing!" He spoke in an excited tone, revering the place as if it held buried treasure underneath the floorboards.

Riku instantaneously grabbed his friend's arms. "Did you see anyone else in there?" He tightened the hold when the image of the dark figure floated its way into his mind.

"Ouch! Leggo of me!" Sora pulled himself out of the grasp and rubbed his arms to numb the pain. Glaring, he asked, "What was that for?"

Riku gave Sora an apologetic look. "How far did you go in? Did you go upstairs?"

"No, I got as far as the main foyer before the front door started to bang itself against the jamb," Sora gave a slight shiver. "I got scared and ran. Why?"

Riku visibly paled. If it wasn't Sora up on the second floor, then there has got to be someone else on the island aside the four of them (and the dead people). He forced himself to not freak out as he breathlessly replied, "I think there's someone else here." Riku explained what he had seen upstairs. "I might've just been imagining things though. There was a flash of lightening at the same time."

Sora snorted. "You'd be the strongest guy on the island if you'd just get over that fear."

"I know that!" Riku spited out with a glare. "I've been trying to get over it! So, stop patronizing me!" Riku rarely raised his voice at Sora; much less actually get angry with him. But he really disliked it when Sora pointed out that he needed to change. Both got defensive during such arguments though. The natural pattern would be Sora mentioning Riku's phobia and Riku, in turn, would jab at Sora's bed wetting days. Sora then would make fun of Riku's tendency of jumping to conclusions whereas Riku would mock Sora's (endearing, not that Riku would say that aloud) spacey disposition and short attention span. Sora would become insulted and revert back to the most basic of verbal fighting techniques.

"You… You idiot jock!"

Riku took his turn to snort. "Great comeback. I bet Tidus taught you that one." Tidus was well known for being the worst name caller. "I'm not even a jock."

"At least he's not afraid of storms!"

Throwing up his hands, Riku shouted, "And we're back to this! You're not perfect either! I know that you pick your nose when no one's around!"

Sora glared and readied his fists. "I do not! I-"

"What the fuck are you shit heads yellin' about!" Mr. Jenkins ambled his way in, angry that his sleep had been interrupted.

Old man Jenkins was not a native of the islands. From what the kids learned from the gossip amongst the adults, he had left home from the continent (exact reason unknown) when he had barely reached his twenties. He had learned the slang of their language before learning Proper. As a result, he slipped into the slang, noticeably, a few times when he's emotional. Now, one can tell when he's really upset when he throws in his native tongue. "When I get mah 'ands on you, I'm gonna su'tch ile fra'n and skillsh ile skin with an effin' spook!"

The two boys blinked. They only know a few words, but since he threw in slang with the Proper and mixed in his own native tongue the effect that old man Jenkins was certainly going for was lost.

Old man Jenkins took twenty seconds to calm himself down. "Okay, now what do you have to say for yer selfs?"

"For what?" Sora asked innocently (or trying to, the look on his face was too false to be convincing).

Jenkins glared. "For wakin' me the hell up! That's what!"

Sora pondered. "I lost my necklace and Riku thought he saw something-"

"Where?" Jenkins turned to Riku with an imploring look on his face. "Was it in the house?"

Riku nodded, albeit unsurely. He went on to tell Jenkins about the shadow on the second floor.

Jenkins cursed when the narrative finished. "Must be those kids again. I swear! I thought the idiot council instigated that new rule to keep them out!" He walked over to the closet and opened it. "Listen, I'm goin' to have to go over. Stay here until I get back." Jenkins pulled out a raincoat and a waterproof flashlight. A club shaped walking stick soon followed after. "To scare those kids off," He explained seeing the confused looks of Riku and Sora. He grinned. "They run when they see an old guy with a huge club." Jenkins pulled on an old pair of boots and left.

"Back to bed or wait up?" Riku asked, tapping his foot onto the floorboards with agitation.

Sora took the time to ponder. "Let's stay, just in case."

In case of what? Riku wanted to ask, but Sora had all ready migrated to the living room to sit down on the couch. Riku sat down next to him after relocating the blankets that Mr. Jenkins had left behind.

"Do you think there's something there?" Sora wondered, directing the question towards Riku. He turned pensive when Riku shrugged.

Riku wasn't sure if he even saw something. He placed a hand to his forehead and clenched his eyes. It had crossed his mind earlier that he might've had a hallucination. It wouldn't be the first time that his mind had him seeing things that weren't there. IE. When he was eight, Riku swore that he saw the walls covered in dirt. Upon having told his mother, she freaked out and scrubbed the walls with such a ferocity that it had taken her twenty minutes to realize that she had been wearing down the all ready clean wallpapers. His mom had ground him for a week, even though he promised that he wasn't lying.

Other times included seeing dark, swimming shadows in the bathtub, a murderer (just a business man) carrying an ax, and demon birds always watching, always chasing, ready to peck his eyes out (turns out that they were just tropical birds).

Unlike most others who frequently hallucinated, Riku could tell the difference between an episode of mind tricks and reality. This helped out when Sora was scared because of a misconception his brain cocked up. Riku would often be the one who would say, "it's just a tree…" or "why are you scared of a rock formation?" and, "That wasn't a monster, that was my dad!"

"You okay?" Riku leaned back up, not realized that he had bent forward so that his forehead was touching his knee. Sora given him a curious and worried look, "You look like you're getting ready to die."

"Yes," Riku agreed jokingly. "This is an ancient technique passed down the family for praying to the god of death for a quick and swift death and to bring honor to the family."

"Yanno, if it weren't for the fact that you're atheistic and you don't care about honor ("I do to!") I'd completely believe you."

Riku waved a careless hand. "Details, details. But yes, I'm fine. Nothing wrong here."

Sora, although not appearing to believe Riku, backed off, but in a manner that suggested that he wouldn't just let go completely.

A grandfather clock rung three times. The noise loud, but calming, echoed and shook the air until it dissipated. "It's so late…" Sora muttered. "I hadn't realized-" The rest of the sentence was cut off by a loud yawn that escaped from his mouth.

Riku pulled up the fallen blanket. "Here," he said as he passed it to Sora. The younger boy smiled gratefully, pulling the blanket over his lap and curling himself in. A breath of contentment released itself.

The unnatural silence pushed it's way back in. Even the tick-tocking of the clock and Sora's light sighs did nothing to stifle the loud silence. Choked ness swelled up inside Riku and a depressed feeling made him want to cry for no reason at all. How stupid, he mentally scoffed, to get so nervous over nothing.

Sora's feet, stationed against Riku's thigh, twitched uncontrollably whilst he let out heavy panting. Riku chuckled before leaning over Sora's whimpering body and whispering, "Run away! It's coming after you! Run!" He laughed as Sora whimpered even louder. "Its…" He blinked when he saw the tears washing out of Sora's eyes. "Sora?"

"Daddy!" Sora cried out. His hands grasped the blanket hysterically and pulled it in different directions. "Wait! Come-!" He cried out again and again. Sobbing and gasping, muttering this and that.

Riku shook himself out of the daze and grasped Sora's shoulders, shaking them harshly. "Wake up!"

Sora's eyes flashed open and leaned up, almost butting heads with Riku. "DADDY!" He screamed out. His voice was loud and shrill. Tears still rolled down after Sora closed his mouth after his brain caught up with his subconscious. Sora's shuddering breaths covered up the echo, which would go on forever in their ears.

"Sora?" Riku pulled his friend into his embrace, placing a hand on his back. Sora leaned in further, clenched his shirt, and sobbed.

"A demon ate him!" Riku had to translate the muttered/incoherent words. "A demon… A demon… A demon… Why?"

Guilt flittered upon Riku. He should've never tried to influence his friend's mind like he had. Why did he always have to do something so stupid? Damn. He pulled Sora in further- having learned that it was possible to do so. "I don't know," Riku muttered into the hair spikes located scenic Sora's Ear. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

They stayed hunched together, even after Sora fell asleep - with Riku soon after - and even after Mr. Jenkins's arrival back, complaining about something that didn't reach their minds. They slept and slept. Riku dreamt about lightning and zombies everywhere, eating him, chewing, drinking, sucking, destroying. Him. Sora had all ready joined their legions and was the first to bite him. He made Riku ignore the pain of being eaten alive by touching him and making him gasp and groan and whimper with each sure touch. (When Riku would wake up, he desperately tried to forget what happened after that first touch…).

Sora, on the other hand, dreamt of a large, dirty crown that he scrubbed and scrubbed, but wouldn't become clean. He used cleaning solutions, electronic scrubs, even iron mesh, but the mud and caked on dirt just wouldn't come off. It had gotten to the point where the dirt actually bled like skin that was scrubbed raw. The blood got all over his hands and clothes. He realized then that the blood was his and then it was Mr. Jenkins's, then Kairi's, then Riku's, and countless others until the world was drowned in the red fluid and the only ones left was Sora and his father asking, "Why? Why? Why did you do it?" and Sora not having an answer. Everything disappeared, to be forgotten, when Riku shook him awake.

Riku ginned at Sora's jumbled wake up talk, which most consisted of: "Mm… jurgle… mugh… urh… sploosh." And was aided by Sora's confused and sleepy look as sun hit his eyes from the living room window. Sora eventually gained his bearings and glared at Riku with a "huh? Whachu laughin' at?" type of look.

"Breakfast is ready," Riku replied through the chuckles. "After you're done, we're leaving." He helped Sora get up and out of the couch and lead him to the kitchen where Kairi and the old man was all ready finished with their food.

"Sora!" Kairi let out a fit of childish giggles upon seeing his mused up spike-hair and slightly pouty look.

Riku picked up the plate of pancakes and deposited them in front of Sora. "Eat up."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Now who's patronizing who?" A clear reference to the argument from the night before.

"Shuddup and eat," Riku ordered, sitting down at the cramped table and leaning his head forward to hide the embarrassed blush on his face. Riku always did hate having his words thrown back into his face. Especially by those who are younger than him. He sulked for two minutes before Kairi pulled him into a conversation about the festival that was to be coming in two days. He forgot about sulking when he remembered last year's festivities and the amount of fun they had.

Sora finally finished eating and Kairi completed her glass of the (sour) orange juice. Mr. Jenkins gave each of them a huge hug and made them promise to come back and visit him sometime (so as to keep him from "feeling too lonely"). With a wave of the hands, the old door was closed and they were off.

The sun shinned brightly in a way associated after hard rains where everything seemed fresh, luminous, and clear of clouds. Giant puddles on the ground reflected the brightness of the morning.

"Eww!" Kairi let out as she pulled her shoe out of the mud. "I just got these!"

Sora grinned. "Remember when you used to play in the mud? You were always the first one to jump in."

Kairi sent Sora a rather uncharacteristic glare. "That was Tidus. I've always hated mud."

Riku had a memory where he and Sora were playing mud war. Kairi had been looking on with forlorn, even though she had replied, when asked, that she "didn't want to ruin her hair," or "my adoptive parents will get angry." That thought made Riku frown. Was Kairi always like that, wanting to be a part of something, but denying it? Did she ever feel jealousy? Like he had when she monopolizes Sora?

The other two noticed his frown and asked him what was wrong.

"Nothing," Riku replied, shaking his head. "Do either one of you-"

Annoyance flittered into Sora's demeanor. "That is starting to get on my nerves…"

Riku blinked and asked what Sora was talking about.

Miffed, Sora replied, "Every time I ask about your well being, you brush off the question and change the subject. I don't ask for much-"

"Bull!"

"- but just once- and it isn't bull- I want a straight, truthful answer. Now… What is wrong?"

"Not a fuckin' thing is friggin' wrong!" Riku shouted, fists clenched and face flushed from irritation and slight anger. Kairi, having never seen one of Riku's out bursts, instinctively scooted to stand behind Sora (not that would do much if he and Riku were to duke it out, Riku was the strongest fighter after all). Riku saw the slight fear and winced. He turned around and counted to ten, taking deep breaths along the way, before facing his friends. "Look, I apologize for yelling. I'm just anxious about something and you getting on my case isn't helping me."

"What?" Sora's voice was soft and uncertain, as if ready for Riku to blow up again.

Riku shrugged. "That's the thing. I have no clue. I keep on thinking that I'm hallucinating and I keep on getting distracted by minor things."

"Like what?"

"… Just little things," Riku lied.

Sora, Riku was grateful for, didn't press the subject further, much like he did the night before, and continued walking. They passed the crypt with Kairi (and Sora even) shivering at the foreboding aura from the large mound.

The gate came into view and much to their relief as they walked up to the iron structure; it was unlocked and open, ready to be walked through by three teens. They all felt a sense of being let out of jail or captivity as soon as their sneaker feet touched the dirt road on the other side of the gate. Each glanced at each other and laughed nervously.

Just down the dirt road stood a small shack sized building. This is the second ferry station. A hurricane two years prior had wiped out its processor. The old one was more huge than necessary—only mourners visited the island—and when decision time came around, it was decided to just build a smaller station. Thusly, there were no benches put in place. Thusly, the three hung out on the concrete dock.

All three were sitting down. Sora sat cross-legged and chatting about the type of punishments that they would be suffering through. Riku had his legs hanging over the edge and crossed at the ankle, leaning forward and listening to Sora and staring at the waves as the crashed against everything. Kairi sat across from Sora and added her two cents worth in every once-in-a-while.

"They're probably gonna feed me to the lions," Sora commented. "And then ground my chewed up left over pieces…"

Kairi scrunched up her face in distaste. "That's bringing up a really bad mental picture. Mine are probably just going to blow their tops at me for awhile."

"Here comes the ferry," Riku announced, standing up. Sora and Kairi followed suit, although they jumped up excitedly from their respective spots. Like children, they screamed out, "it's here! It's here!" And did dances and jigs with their happy words.

The ferry took ten minutes to chug its way to the dock. They each pulled out their passes and showed the plastic to the conductor. Sora led the group to the back of the boat and sat down on a wooden bench. Riku sat across, both sitting next to the window. Kairi stood in the aisle glancing from Sora to Riku, trying to decide if she wanted to sit next to Sora and bask in his presence or sit kiddy corner and stare at his presence. She sat next to him.

"So," Sora started off, trying to break the silence. "What did you all think of last night?"

"Scary!"

"A badly done cliché."

Sora blushed. "I thought it was kinda fun…"

Riku raised an eyebrow. Sora thought that staying in a crypt, getting the pants scared off of them by an old man that wasn't even trying to be scary, and stupid old houses were fun. Riku had to wonder about Sora. His overactive imagination will be the death of him one of those days. "You're crazy."

The teen in question grinned. "Probably. Everyone keeps on saying that so it must be true."

"Sora's not-!" Kairi, as per usual, jumped to Sora's defense, but paused. "-Okay, so maybe he is. But not as much as everyone makes him out to be."

Actually, Riku thought absentmindedly while chuckling at Kairi, if anyone's close to being insane it would be him, Riku. The one who hallucinated shadows, noises, and possibly even this reality? That made him pause. Was everything real? Was Sora, the childish teen, really sitting across from him? Was Kairi a figment that everyone else could talk to? Was the world created for him? Or was he created for the world?

Was he dreaming of the butterfly?

Or was the butterfly dreaming of him?

"Getting too philosophical." Riku muttered.

"Are you contemplating about whether or not if pineapples are the king of fruit?" Sora asked, laughing and grinning. "That's what I would be thinking about."

"Nah," Replied Riku. "I was thinking about how sand used to be those huge pieces of rock that had been broken off and worn down until they reached their current size." He hated lying to Sora, felt like he was betraying the trust they had. "It's amazing to think the amount of time it took to get them to that size."

Kairi giggled (just like a girl who wanted in on the action would, thought Riku, slightly miffed). "Tee hee, you're so weird. No one thinks about those things."

"I do!" Piped up the younger teenage boy. "I think about words and things. Like 'island'. There's a 's' but you don't hear it. And like how 'Earth' sounds so simple of a name of a planet that sustains us all. It deserves more. And the human spirit. Where does it go?"

"What do you mean?" Confusion trampled onto Kairi's face. "I thought that the spirit just left and went to where ever."

Riku jumped into the conversation, explaining for Sora. "What he means is that energy can't be created nor destroyed. So, where does the electrical impulses go when one dies?"

"Exactly," said Sora. "But it's too confusing to think about things like that. Therefore, I try to not dwell on it. Otherwise, my brain gets fried and I end up changing the subject."

Yep. Nothing wrong with the statement, "changing the subject." Never mind that Sora treated his thoughts as conversations. At least we all learned a little something about each other, reflected Riku. Kairi is… annoying in high dosages. Sora can be philosophical. And Riku, he had strange dreams about zombies and being eaten by Sora and then making out with zombie Sora. And then doing "other things" with zombie Sora that made Riku blush, even though he was never one for blushing. He really did not want to think about the run to the bathroom that morning and how quiet he had to be.

Such things should never be thought of when on a boat, with no bathroom and your two friends right across from you.

"So," Riku shifted slightly. "I think we were discussing the festival this weekend. Same place, same hour?"

They all knew that he meant the usual time and place for meeting that they had each year.

"Depends if we're dead or not after last night's stunt." Sora said. Kairi nodded with a "what he said" look. "But since the festival uses everyone…" He trailed off, unsure, but hoping.

"If it comes to you not getting out, I'll sneak into your house and visit you." Riku assured Sora with a pat on the spiky head.

Kairi nodded enthusiastically and announced that she would come over too. "I could never bear to leave my children all by themselves!"

"So," Riku replied, eye lids half-mast and slightly glaring. The small smile ruined the illusion though. "We're your children now are we?"

"Yep. Sora's the daughter-"

"Hey! Since when do I resemble anything as a girl?"

"- And you are the unruly son."

Still insulted, Sora asked, "Well, what type of mother would you be?"

The girl pondered on that question for a bit. "I would be the type of mother that would die for you—both of you—but at the same time I would be a bad mother. I'd play favorites. Mostly for Sora since he's the good daughter who is remorseful and wouldn't cause me to grow my gray hairs early."

"What about Riku? Why wouldn't he be your favorite?" Sora asked, with a joking look on his face that says "hah! I finally have something over you!"

Kairi blinked. "He'd be my secret favorite. My unruly son. The one that would get into fights to protect me and acts like he doesn't care about anything."

The boat gave a lurch and they were sailing. Over the hum of the motors, the trio talked about meaningless things. But it was never meaningless things to them. Conversations should never be meaningless. They are all ways there for a reason. Gauge another's character through mannerisms and speech. Figure out how other people are doing. Relate things. Communication. However, for them, their "meaningless" conversation was there to stay away from the subject of Graveyard Island, or forget it completely.

They laughed, joked, and ran up and down the aisles a few times until the conductor told them to sit down or he'll drop them off at the next dock and leave them there. Kairi giggled over it as they sat back down on the bench until Sora got into her giggles and giggle too, having got caught up in the child-like disease that affects everyone until everyone in the world is laughing.

Things continued like this till they reached their port and hopped off. They fell silent, all preparing for the punishments sure to come.

"I'll see you all later," Riku split off from the other two at his street, waving until his arms grew tired and they were out of sight.

In books that he has read, the child's imagination (when plagued by guilt) would make the trek or the house seem larger than it normally was. None of this happened to Riku. Sighing, he pulled out his house key and opened the door. "I'm home!" He called out to no one.

His parent's were on a trip. Vacation that he helped pay for because they needed it. Tired and overworked, they're gone for well over two weeks to the continent. That was the reason why he didn't say anything about his possible punishment. He was never going to be punished.

Riku checked the message machine. Three calls: one from Kairi's foster parents, one from Sora's parents, and one from his own. The first two asking about their respective child and the last asking him to call back.

Riku obliged the last message and called his parents' cell phone.

"Hi… Listen, I'm sorry I wasn't home last night… Um…" He paused not sure of if he should say anything about the night before or not. "…Just give me a call and I'll explain. I promise to not leave the house until you do. So, yeah… just call me… and I'll… never mind… Bye."

How uncharacteristic, Riku thought. He was concerned that his parents might be worried about him. Normally they never entered the equations. Except for when he got grounded. That's when he cursed them and called them names and still escaped from the house.

That crushing depression came back and he had the sudden urge to cry. Why now? Why was he now upset that he was never really a "good son"? He felt like he missed his chance. Something's going to happen soon. It's going to change him and his parents will be left out of the equation again.

Shaking his head, Riku sat down on the couch and watched TV.

0000

Here's the translations to what Mr. Jenkins says:

Su'tch ile fra'n: (Literally: hang you balls) hang you by the balls

Skillsh ile skin: (Literally: quarter you body) quater your body.

Spook: Spork

Words that I came up with, including the grammer structure.

Right now, I'm banging my head on the desk. Figuratively, of course. Don't want to lose more neurons than necessary. I hate this chapter, especially after they leave Mr. Jenkins's house. And they laughed/giggled/joked/etc waaaay too much. You can usually tell when I can't think of anything to write when I have those stupid conversations that come out of nowhere.

I will tell you that there are many things here that, if you look closely enough, will tell you what is going to happen in the future. Some things even I don't notice. For this fic, I'm aiming for an "everything is important" type of thing. Is it working so far?

Questions? Complaints? Comments? Just wanna see me cry over spilt milk? Then click on that purple button and off you go!

The Can-Can group