Hello everyone, just before this chapter I wanted to wish everyone a happy holidays and a happy new year. and if you want to join in a holiday wish for the new year for the all the countries in the world to find peace and stability in these troubling times.

Thank you

K

Shadow Within Shadow

"Uggghhhhh…." Grey moaned as he entered his apartment closing the door behind him. As he closed his door Grey threw his coat on to his couch in the centre of his place. Once the door was fully shut Grey walked to the couch and threw himself onto it letting out another long moan.

"Note…to…..self," Grey slow moaned out as he rested his head on the crest of the couch. "Don't…..go to…work…..after a….warehouse party." Grey let out a small smile as he finished saying those last words.

Grey could feel his whole body crying out in agony, every muscle was pushed to its limits and beyond. Even though his aura was healing him by simply not allowing his body to rest what every it heal was simply injured again. But now that Grey had finally stopped moving he could slowly feel his body slowly starting to heal.

After a few minutes had passed Grey lifted his head off the crest of the coach allowing him to stare down his body. While Grey had his neck craned to look down his sight was drawn to an object that rested on a small coffee table in front of him. The object was the manila envelope that he recovered last night.

"Oh….That's what I forgot," Grey moaned as he leaned forward picking up the envelope.

He stared at it for a while it was still unsealed from last night with all the pages tucked away. For a few moments, he looks at the envelope debating what he should next, then with a look of determination in eyes he opened it and pulled out the pages within. Grey slowly read over the pages from inside the envelope but as read further and further into the pages he only got angrier.

"Curse it!" Grey yelled as he threw the pages down onto the coffee table. "They're no longer in Atlas. That makes these documents worth less! They don't even say where they might be!"

Grey started to run his fingers through his hair out of anger. Soon though he felt a cold sensation running down his spine causing to almost freeze up. He closed his eyes in an effort to help calm his nerves.

As he opened his eyes he felt calmer then he was before but his gaze shortly drifted to a dark corner where two crimson eyes stared back at him. The eyes floating within the darkness seemed to glare at him with a hunger in them. However Grey glared back at them with a complete hatred in eyes.

"I'm never going to let you out," Grey declared in a hushed voice, "As long as I am conscious and in control, you will never gain control."

Though the eyes lingered still staring back at him from the shadows.

"I need to get some air," Grey said as he quickly rose from the coach grabbing his coat in the process. Before he left his apartment his gaze shifted back to the dark corner where the crimson eye use to be. "I won't repeat those nights ever again." He said as he opened the door to leave.

Grey walked the streets with the sun still hanging high the sky though as he walked he found himself walking past the warehouse from last night. Around the warehouse a heavy police presence had over taken it. Grey looked around trying to see if they had any transport for prisoners. As he looked around he couldn't see any. Causing as sense fear to grab a hold of him as he looked over the sight.

He walked up to the line that the officers had formed causing one officer to step forward towards Grey. "Hold it right there," the officer said holding out his arm towards Grey, "you are not aloud in here."

"Sorry officer," Grey apologized towards the officer, "But if it's can you answer a few questions?"

"Great the press is already here," The officer quickly mumbled, "Fine, but only two questions,"

"Thanks," Grey said as he thought over what he would ask, "Alright first question then do you know what happened here?" Grey asked trying his best to sound as if he was a reporter.

"We can't be too sure but it looks like a storage area for illegal goods." The officer answered keeping everything vague.

"Alright then," Grey said hopping that he managed to hide the fact that he was here though he was upset that he wasted a question. "Did you manage to capture anyone who was there?" he asked hoping to hear that they had captured them all.

"Yes, we managed to arrest several people who we can directly link to here. however, we believe there may be more out there." The officer said with a degree of certainty in his voice.

"Can you say who you arrested?" Grey asked instantly hoping to figure out who they had.

"I said I would answer two questions and you got your two answers now move along there's work to be down here." The officer said as he started to walk away.

Grey felt his heart sink as the officer walked away but he knew that he had to walk away as well. "So there's a chance that they could find out…" his voice trailed as he thought over it. But as Grey started to walk away a stray thought popped into his head which helped calm him down further. "Huh, that would require at least one of them to be in some shady business. And knowing my friends I highly doubt that." Grey admitted trying his best to reassure himself.

The day kept rolling on as Grey walked streets still trying his best to reassure himself that he was still hidden from them, still hidden from his friends. Though as Grey walked around a corner his gaze was caught by a simple sight of four people laughing as they walked down the opposite street. Grey didn't know them but his mind overlaid him and his friend over top of the four strangers doing the same thing just walking and talking. Causing many fond memories to come to the forefront of his thoughts though instead of feeling happy they only caused him to feel sadness.

"I can't," Grey quietly whispered to himself, "I need to learn how to control this… this thing better, I can't risk my friends' safety." Grey walked past the four strangers as he looked down to his left hand "I have only gone to that point twice but every time I have I completely lost control."

Grey still kept his head down staring at his hand as he kept walking forward. But as he passed a store front window his gaze was quickly pulled away to a screen just behind the window. There was no audio that grey could here however the news was showing pictures of the warehouse he was at. Pictures of both the warehouse and the people they had taken in to custody. Many of the mugshots were that of the lower level thugs but Grey kept watching, all most hoping to see one picture. But as he was about to turn and leave the mugshot of the leader that Grey had encounter last night flashed on to the screen along with the other thugs who had been taken in.

Grey felt a sense of happiest that he hadn't felt day, a feeling that said everything was going to work out in the end, a feeling he was very unaccustomed to. He gave a silent nod as he started to walk back to his place feeling glad that his secret was once again safe. Although Grey also felt something else mixing in as he walked further away. A sense of almost longing to have his secret broken and once again to join his friends.

"I can't have that," Grey mumbled to himself again, trying to comfort himself. He quickly glanced over his shoulder seeing if there was anyone around him. With no one around him, Grey grabbed a small picture out his coat that had been folded so many times that a clear crease had formed in the centre.

In the picture, his friends had huge smiles on their faces with himself off to the side giving something that could be called a smirk. Grey couldn't remember when they took this picture but he knew that it was before that night.

Grey kept staring at that picture as he walked down the street completely absorbed into the picture letting everything dissolve away. He was so distracted he walked face first into a street light causing a few passersby to snicker a little. After Grey had peeled himself off of the street he gave one last look down at picture. Then with the same smirk he gave the picture he folded the picture back up and tucked it back into his coat.

"There is almost nothing I wouldn't give up to see them again," Grey mumbled once again as he started top walk again this time keeping all distraction out of his sight.

"The problem becomes," Grey silently said as walked down the street, "if they find out my deal to him would surely become null-n-void and I can't risk that." With that Grey looked down at his right hand dragging the deal he struck with the man on that night. "If he finds out that I'm not dead he would more than likely try to force me out and what better way to do that then attack my friends."

But no sooner as the words left his mouth another cold sensation ran down his spine causing to Grey to look around. He quickly turned his head to a darkened alley that was to his side and down there were the same crimson eyes staring back at him. Though they were different this time instead of glaring at him with a hungry look they looked at him almost like they wanted to make a deal.

However Grey stood at the entrance to the alley in silence, not moving even the slightest. He knew that if he walked down that alley it would take control and this fictional deal would be thrown away. Though as the two stared each other the crimson eyes faded back into the shadows signalling that Grey had kept control once again.

"The only way you're ever coming out," Grey silently declared, "is if we meet him again."