A/N: Kind of dark and depressing it is, but it's all good~! I think it was the fact that I opened a new file for my chapters that this one came so quick, oh well~! Enjoy y'all! And I really appreciate your reviews, they've been sweet and amazing and I'm so glad that everyone is enjoying it! Oh and check out 'Can You Fix Me?' by EmoMagician, it's super awesome!
Alan sighed as he stared out at the pouring rain again. He'd still not seen or heard from Eric and it had been more than three months, making him worry even more that he'd be found in a ditch or hanging from a roof somewhere. Eric could be in an alley, constantly having the rain poured on him, falling into pneumonia again. He shook his head and stared down at his reports, rubbing his chest a little. That was the last thing he needed at this point, all of his stress and worries had sent him into overdrive with his attacks. His chest seemed to always be hurting at this point, even if it was only a dull burn, it was enough to cause pain.
"Al? You alright, everyone left hours ago..." Thomas peeked in and waved at the other brunette. Since Eric had vanished, Alan hadn't been able to handle things on his own. It was almost like he'd lost himself after it happened. Somewhere though behind his mask of depression, he could see bits of the real Alan, no matter how fleeting. "Come on, let's head home, huh? We'll grab something on the w—Al? Alan, look at me...are you al-"
"GAH! It burns!" He cringed and doubled over, shuddering and gasping. He cringed and looked up at Tommy, clenching his jaw to keep as quiet as possible. The pink haired reaper knelt down near him and rubbed his back slowly, hoping beyond anything it wasn't going to be his last few minutes. After a moment though, Alan perked up a bit and stared at him through bleary and tear clouded eyes. "E-eric? Y-you came b-back for me...I-I missed you..." he held a hand out to Tommy and pulled him close, shuddering heavily. "I-it hurts so m-much...h-help me...I d-don't want to d-die yet..." Tommy simply kept staring and rubbing his back gently.
"A-alan don't talk like that! You won't die! Not for many many years, I won't let you! I'm not gonna let go of my only friend that easily!" Alan smiled a little before letting out a pained howl, clutching his chest harder and letting out another sob, feeling like he was about to be sick. "P-please...don't die..."
"Looks like the stress is making it worse...Tommy you might have to face facts, Alan might not be around much longer," Undertaker stood up and placed a cool rag on his forehead, watching him shake and whimper for a moment. The last thing he wanted was to bury his second favourite student, especially with what it was doing to Tommy. Thomas had had a nasty panic attack when Alan wouldn't calm down, leading to both of them somehow showing up passed out in front of the old reapers shop in the rain. He grabbed Tommy's chin and lifted his head up a little. "Look at me...we've got this worked out, remember~? When Alan wakes up and is feeling better then you can help him find Eric, alright~?"
"But what if he doesn't? What if this one kills him? What if finding out about Eric kills him? He'd never want to stay with him, I know it!" He started shaking heavily and wiping his eyes, relaxing slightly when the older reaper rubbed his shoulders. "He's been my best fried for as long as I can remember..."
"And he'll stay that way, now let's take a look at those records, hmm? I'm curious about you two..." Thomas stopped and leaned on a coffin.
"I thought you were the one who collected our souls?"
"I supervised, but I never saw them...I'm curious to see them, Tommy-dear~ aren't you? I'm sure you don't remember much from before you died," The pink haired reaper shook his head and peeked at the books, swallowing hard at the sight of his and Alan's photos on the covers. A sudden crying out from the other room caught his attention and he ran out, kneeling by Alan, well the coffin holding Alan.
"T-tom...? Why am I i-in a coffin...? A-am I dead?"
"No, silly. Prof—Undertaker found us, he's letting us crash here for a few days..."
"So why am I in a...this isn't a regular coffin, is it?" Thomas watched him sit up and peek around it, staring down at the ground to avoid answering. "Tom? Do you know anything ab-"
"I don't want you to die, Al! I can't get through eternity by myself! It's dark and lonely and I can't operate with my only friend not at my side! I hope you can forgive Eric for all of us, you two belong together and he only wants you live a very long time!" He squeaked and covered his mouth quickly, only realising what he'd just said.
"What are you talking about?" Alan furrowed his eyebrows and Undertaker put a hand on his shoulder, making him jump a little.
"Another time, kitten. For now just go back to to sleep. Tommy come with me," He pushed his hair out of his eyes and glanced at the two from over his shoulder. "Come on, Tommy-dear~, there are things we need to discuss..."
"Get up! You have no time to sleep! You have souls to collect!" Eric cringed and wrapped his arms around himself, shivering. "Come on, reaper!" Ree growled and threw a bucket of freezing water on him, kicking him hard in the back. "Now!" He dragged the blond up and shoved him toward the entrance of their run-down hideout. Eric stopped at the door frame and leaned against it, eyes drooping closed slowly. He was close enough to being deep asleep that it wasn't until he fell into the mud that he realised Ree had shoved him.
"The hell was that for?" He stood up slowly and rubbed his arms shivering from the water, mud, and evening air. "I-I'm not l-like you...I n-need s-sleep..." He shook his head and watched the demon walk past him and smirk. "I'm n-not going to another a-alley..."
"Of course not, reaper. We're going to a park, now come along! We don't want to keep the girls waiting!" Ree turned back and grabbed his arm roughly, dragging him along to a carriage. He snarled as the blond shook his head and snatched his arm away. "You idiot! Do you want him to die! Don't you understand what will happen?" The reaper merely stared at him and shook his head, growling.
"How dare you talk to me like I'm stupid? Don't you think I know what will happen? Why do you think I'm tormenting myself? I'm going insane trying to save him! He's all I have in this world and I will not let him be taken from me so easily! Do I make myself clear?" He sniffed and held his saw up to the demon, ready to take him out any second. Ree narrowed his eyes and shook his head, slowly walking back to him.
"...You're so vulnerable...your sanity has slipped, your anger is the only thing that keeps you from destroying yourself," The demon smirked and walked over to him, circling slowly. "You don't realise how far you've fallen, do you? Your mind is so unguarded..." He stopped and stared right at the blond, smirking and pressing right against him.
"What are you doing, demon? Get away from me..." He made to step back but was frozen to the spot, swallowing hard when he saw the demon's eyes were glowing, keeping him in place. "O-ok, I get the joke...let me go...I've not got very many to go now...about 152, right? Let's go," He tried moving again but Ree still had him in place. "Look you, I am by no means vulnerable and I have no feelings for you. I love Alan, and your hang-ups are NOT going to get in my way!" Ree's smirk widened.
"Oh how vulnerable...you are so open to an attack. Someone could come to you and..." he slid his fingers into his hair and pulled their faces close, foreheads pressed together. Eric winced as his hair was pulled, "...simply possess your twisted soul, just...like...THIS!" He growled and pulled the blond down into a rough kiss, dragging his nails down his scalp. Eric cringed and tried pushing him away, unfortunately with no luck. He growled and protested, anything he could to get him away. After a moment his protests died down as a burning pain slowly made it's way from the base of his skull and basically exploded in his head. There were stars behind his eyes as the pain slowly radiated to the rest of his body. He fell forward as Ree's body went limp and dragged him down, breaking his fall with his hands and shaking his head. As sudden;y as the pain came, it was gone again, a fleeting moment of relief.
"What the...hell? What was that a—AAAHHH MY HEAD!" He cringed doubled over, suddenly feeling like his head would explode. He slammed his fist on the ground and started crying out and sobbing from the pain.
"It's so strange being inside your head, so many fears...so much rage...yet so much concern for someone so weak..." The pain seemed to vanish in an instant and Eric perked up, looking around and back to the body.
"Where are you...? Come out you filthy, no good-"
"Ah but now if I showed myself then you would die. And we can't save our dear Allie if we're dead, now can we~?" Eric growled and kept searching around, occasionally grabbing his head and cringing as a searing pain surged out to every nerve ending in his body. Where was he? Why was his voice echoing? Who the hell was this 'we' he was mentioning? What if that demon hadn't vanished...? At least, physically, he'd merely...
"AAAHHH! What the hell is going on? Get out of my head!" He yanked on his hair to attempt pulling him out through his scalp. All he managed to give himself though was even more of a headache. He felt another surge of pain and the chain begin to burn and shorten again, making him double over and hug himself tight. "Keeeeeee, why are you doing this to me? I just want to...to...Nnnn! God it burns..." He cringed and yanked on the chain a few times, growling in frustration when it wouldn't budge. This wasn't death was it? No...death was more merciful, every reaper knew that. No, this was something much worse...worse than being influence by a demon...the only thing could be. What no human or reaper wanted to be...
"Oh no..." His eyes flashed red before another blinding surge swept through, knocking him out.
"He's still asleep...feels like he's got a bad fever..." Thomas set a new cold rag on Alan's forehead and swallowed hard, biting his lip. Alan winced and threw an arm over his eyes, shaking as his breathing became ragged and his whimpering started back up.
"No...Eric..." Both Thomas and the Undertaker stared at him and pulled him out of the coffin, holding him tight.
"I have a spare room with a large bed, we'll put him there and maybe that will help. Follow me, kitten..." Thomas nodded and followed quietly, laying him down gently and watching silently. He sniffed and looked down at the ground as he left the room, unwilling to look right at Alan's shaking body. "He'll pull through...he's stronger than he looks. Now come with me, let's take a look at those records, hmm?" Thomas nodded as Undertaker pulled him out of the room and draped a arm over his shoulder, hugging him close.
"P-professor...what if he...what if Eric doesn't stop killing people after this? I mean, murder can really mess you up...can't it?" he sniffed and leaned against the wall, shaking his head and sniffing. "Please professor...I can't lose him! There's got to be something we can do!" He shuddered and hid his face in his hands, shaking and crying uncontrollably. Undertaker pulled him close and kissed the top of his head, rocking him gently.
"Unfortunately kitten...all we can do is make sure that he doesn't get sicker than he already is..." Not very helpful after all. Thomas cringed and sobbed harder into the old man's shoulder, grabbing fistfuls on his robes while his back was rubbed slowly. "Shhhhhh...it'll be alright, my dear...just you wait, hmm? We'll help them through this, but right now they need some space, hmm?" Thomas sniffed and looked up at him after wiping his eyes, smiling a little. Undertaker grinned and led him out of the room, nipping his nose gently before pulling him into a coffin.
"Boss, what the hell am I gonna do? I can't lose him! He's my best friend..." Eric stared at the Undertaker twirling around and giggling. The old man really had gone crazy, hadn't he? He stopped twirling and grinned wide, handing him a book. "What is this? I'm not gonna open this and a pressed spleen fall out, am I?"
"Heeheeheehee, you worry too much, kitten~! I keep pressed organs elsewhere!" The old man began giggling and twirling around again, grinning as his hair fanned out and landed around his shoulders. "Take that book with you~! There should be something in there to help you!" Eric nodded and ran a hand through his hair, leaning against the wall.
"I'm so sick of seeing him suffer..."
"You know, kitten...since you're going to attempt the impossible, why not try something new with yourself? I've always though you would look quite appealing with blond hair~" Undertaker grinned and draped his arms over the brunette, nuzzling him gently.
"Stop it. I've got a thousand souls to collect," He shook his hair out of his eyes and left the shop without another word.