Disclaimer: I own nothing.

I feel so honored that so many people are interested in this story! I'll do my best not to disappoint anyone. Thanks everyone for your support of it!

Sorry this is a short chapter. I'll make up for it later, I swear.

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The darkness was absolute, and Murdoc could feel it as certainly as if it was a thing that could be touched, a scarf wrapped around his face. Combined with the dust of the air, the musty, untouched odor of decay, the atmosphere made his senses itch. He wrapped his cloak a little closer around himself and continued forward, though the feeling around him was more than enough to make him want to recoil.

The darkness continued for what could have been several hundred yards or more, he had no concept of distance in the unchangeable darkness, and when a dim light finally illuminated his surroundings, a wave of shock flashed through his body. He was deep in the confines of Kong, near the hellhole, which stood a smoldering pit of cooled black hellfire, its smoke billowing silently upward toward the ceiling. The murky light was coming from the figure before him, tall and lanky, its limbs like willowy branches. It was naked, its skin black as charcoal, its hair matted and tangled. The light was a dull red, shining from the deep sockets of the creature's eyes. As it moved, its long arms swung incomprehensibly, as though there was no control over them. It moved like a wounded animal, predatory but pained, every step a struggle, and yet there was some semblance of human in it, and the combination frightened him, making him recoil as it neared him.

The creature collapsed, and Murdoc was struck with the fact that it was dead before it suddenly lifted itself up and began to crawl toward him, a disturbing wilted motion that made Murdoc move faster, but his back was to the wall, and the creature was bearing down on him for all its slowness, closing in on him. As it finally reached him, it grabbed the legs of his pants and drew itself up and stared at him from deep inside its head where the eerie light glowed coldly.

"Murdoc…" it croaked, and Murdoc jumped, struck by the familiar tone of that voice… the struggling, stuttering Cockney accent that produced his name in its signature way. "Help me…" there was something so chilling in those words, something that made Murdoc's hair stand up.

"2D…" the terror hit Murdoc full-on then, burning its way into the top of his head like a bolt of lightning and shooting down to the tips of his toes. His body felt weak. He felt like he was going to faint.

"How could you do this to me?" 2D moaned, his voice even more labored than usual. He clung with a death grip onto Murdoc's trousers, and he couldn't have gotten away if he tried. 2D's filthy blue hair was matted with blood and dirt and hung in his eyes, plastered to his forehead. His black skin did not manage to hide his characteristic face. A surge of revulsion hit Murdoc. This couldn't be 2D. This couldn't be real.

"2D… what the bloody fuck is going on!?" he managed to gasp. 2D gave a tiny spasm and closed his eyes for a moment.

"My soul… everything that… how could you do this to me?" tears streaked down 2D's ruined face, and Murdoc nearly vomited at the sight of something so normal sliding down skin that looked so grotesque. His arms had snaked themselves around Murdoc's knees, and the touch made him blanche.

"2D…" the broken vocalist lowered his head, and Murdoc reached out a shaking hand to touch the grimy hair, just to assure himself that it was real. 2D grabbed his arm, and looking back up at him, he opened his mouth to speak. Blood poured from his mouth and his body moved in a sudden jerk, spasming out of control and crumbling to the floor. The blood followed as well from his empty eye sockets, and as the tears of blood poured down his face, Murdoc could have sworn he looked up at him, looking shaken at the deafening and terrified scream that was coming from Murdoc's mouth.

He was still screaming when he sat up in bed.

Trembling, Murdoc wiped the sweat from his forehead. It clung there in huge amounts, and the rest of his body was completely soaked in sweat as well. He switched on the lamp beside his bed, still trying to shake the images from the dream out of his head. As the light flooded the Winnebago, he could feel some of the terror draining away, until he looked down at himself and saw that it wasn't sweat he was covered in.

It was blood.

Blood was pooled in the bed, enough of it to have not yet soaked into the sheets, making a puddle in the dip where he had been lying. Murdoc didn't scream. He wouldn't. He had never screamed at a dream before, and he certainly wasn't going to scream over this. As calmly as he could, Murdoc climbed out of bed and stripped off his clothes, down to his leopard-print underwear. He was smeared with blood underneath his clothes, but couldn't see any sources of the bleeding. He felt no pain, found no injuries, and was trying to calm down completely when he heard the door slam.

"Murdoc?" Noodle was still wearing her pajamas, and she looked very small standing in the doorway, holding the baseball bat she routinely used in zombie attacks. "I heard you screaming. Are you alright?"

"Noodle." Murdoc had never been happier to see someone, and the relief seeped into him like a warm liquid. "Come in. I'm fine. Just fine."

"What's wrong?"

Murdoc shook his head. "Nothing. I… would ye' mind coming with me to check something?"

Five minutes later in the room housing the hellhole, Murdoc, now redressed in clean clothes, looked around for signs of anything unusual by the light of the hellhole. Noodle stood near him with a flashlight, looking solemn as he checked every inch of the room. Finding nothing abnormal, he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Well, nothing's here. Ye' probably think I'm some kind of fucking lunatic now, eh, forcing you to look around in the hellhole in the middle of the night?"

Noodle shook her head gravely. Her face looked eerie in the orange glow of the hellhole. "No, Murdoc. Not at all." she paused, looking thoughtfully toward the glowing hole before she continued. "I had the same dream."

XXX

Murdoc tried to keep himself calm as he made tea shakily. Noodle stood beside him, watching him thoughtfully as he worked.

"So… you had the dream where the hellhole was dead… and 2D was clawing at ye'… and he looked… like a fucking mutant…" Murdoc dropped the teapot, and the metal clanged against the sink. Noodle took it from him and refilled it, placing it on the waiting stove burner.

"Yes… but it was not me with 2D, it was you. I was as though I were watching it happen from the outside… merely a spectator. She fished the sugar cubes out from the cupboard and placed them on the counter.

Murdoc dropped the box of tea bags as he tried to grab them. "Fucking hell!" he snapped, and then leaned against the counter, running a hand over his face and trying to regain his composure. Noodle retrieved them and placed them with the sugar cubes. "So… did ye' wake up covered in blood, too then?"

Noodle shook her head. "No. But I am sure there's a reason why-"

"What reason could there be for me waking up covered in fucking blood? And not mine, either, that much I'm sure of. Sweet Satan, this whole thing's getting out of fucking control." he clamped a hand over his eyes for a moment, and when he looked up, Noodle looked concerned.

"Murdoc, it will be alright. But we cannot afford to panic, alright. I'm sure we'll understand this in time."

Murdoc nodded, deciding that it was easier not to argue. He turned and looked out the window rubbing a hand distractedly over his hair.

Over the dark graveyard, a gentle rain was falling.