Chapter Five
"Got everything?" Matthew asked putting his glasses into their case and throwing them into the backpack. Gilbert finished folding a shirt and put it into the backpack.
"Yup." The albino said zipping up the backpack. They were traveling light, only taking one small backpack between the two of them. They were only staying two nights before going back home. "Jou should be more careful vith those." Prussia warned.
Matthew smiled shyly then gasped remembering something. "Oh, one more thing." Canada said grabbing his mask out of his coat pocket. He always carried his mask. His mask was a dark red maple leaf that covered the lower half of his face. Gilbert unzipped a small pocket and let Matthew fold it and put it inside. "Now we've got everything."
"Good." Prussia smiled closing the pocket. "Jou're off the visit Zyler and Amity?"
The blond nodded. "I won't take too long; we'll get on the road as soon as I get back." Matthew said leaning down to give the Prussian a kiss on the forehead. "You can come if you want?"
"I still have to do some cleaning." Gilbert sighed with a frown. "Next time."
"Okay, I'll get gas on the way home so we don't have to stop on the way down." Matthew said picking up his helmet off the kitchen counter. "I'll be back in an hour or two."
"Ich liebe dich." The Prussian got on his tip toes and gave Canada a kiss.
"Je t'aime aussi." Canada called over his shoulder as he went out to the garage. He put his helmet on before heading out. The ride wasn't too long; the funeral parlour was just in town.
Zyler and Amity Wolf were two ghouls that moved to Canada almost ten years ago. They had bumped into Matthew the day they had moved. They had fled from the violence in Romania and didn't have much to their name. Zyler was very charismatic; he was good at making people smile. Amity had a very calming vibe; her voice was quiet and soothing. Together they made a great team to help people through some of the worst times of their lives. The pair also was part of his small team. Amity was very good with computers and handled the money from his contracts. Zyler helped new ghoul family's settle in and taught them the system Canada used to feed them.
The Canadian down shifted as he pulled into the driveway of the funeral home. There weren't any services today and it was pretty quiet. He parked and went inside.
"Hello?" He called looking around.
"Hey Matt! How are you?" Zyler greeted poking his head out from one of the rooms.
"Not too bad, and you?" Matthew asked as Zyler motioned to follow him. He had dark red short cut hair and bright green eyes. He had a soul patch and a few tattoos that were partially hidden by his jacket sleeves. One was of a wolf, referencing his sir name as well as his ghoul name, Lupus.
A few years after World War II, a system was set in place to feed the many ghouls coming to Canada. Many ghouls took undertaker jobs. They would prep the human body for the funeral, then after the service they'd harvest the meat and give it to other ghouls. It was all technically legal; it was in the funeral contract. This was all happening under the government's nose.
"Pretty good. Yesterday was busy, so happy for a bit of a lull." Zyler admitted with a sigh. He sat down in one of the parlours arm chairs and motioned for Matthew to sit as well. "What brings you here today? Do you need some meat?"
"No, I'm okay. I'm going be out of town for the next couple of days." The Canadian said.
Zyler nodded. "Alright. There aren't any problem ghouls around right now so it shouldn't be a problem."
"How is the fund?" Matthew asked. Amity kept tabs on the money he made from his hits and divided it up among other funeral homes to feed ghouls across Canada.
"Doing well, we've all got enough to run smoothly for the next few months." Lupus said. "Amity can tell you more. She should be back from the store any minute."
"Oh good. There will be another deposit going in soon." Matthew said with a smile.
"The government still hasn't mentioned anything?" Zyler asked raising an eyebrow.
"Nope, they haven't caught on for years, why would they now? They still believe that Canada is almost ghoul free, well besides Red-Winged Blackbird of course." The nation said. "Our Counter Ghoul Agency doesn't have much to do."
"No kidding, we hide very well." Zyler laughed.
"I'm back!" Amity called from the other room. She had heard them chatting and walked into the room. "Hello Matthew, here for an update?"
"Yes and a visit." Matthew said. Amity was a beautiful woman. She had long dark strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a half up, half down style. She had big blue grey eyes and was fairly soft spoken. She went over and sat on the arm of Zyler's chair.
"We're fairly good on funds. We gave just under ten thousand to each home this year. With just over twelve hundred homes that about twelve and a half million." Amity explained. She took a breath and continued. "Of course new homes are opening and old ones are closing all the time. Start-up costs are quite a bit, but the government has grants in some cases. And we also take part of their profits which helps us supplement any losses a parlour might have."
"Good. The rest still goes to new ghouls to help them settle in?" Matthew asked and Amity nodded. They talked about a few different things for a while until Zyler got a call. Canada quickly said goodbye and told them he'd let them know when he'd be back.
-❄"If you stand for nothing Burr what would you fall for?"❄-
"Ready Birdie?" Prussia asked grabbing the backpack off the counter. He walked over and gave Canada a kiss on his cheek as he entered from the garage. Matthew blushed with a small smile and nodded. They both stepped back into the garage. He picked up Gilbert's helmet and tossed it lightly to him. He easily caught it with a smirk.
"Let's head out." Matthew said climbing back onto his bike. The Prussian climbed on behind him and wrapped his arms around Canada's waist. Matthew started the bike and they rode off.
