A/N: Yeah, I know it's short. Odds are the next few will be short, but it'll get us closer to the climax~! I must point out, the vine creeping out on Alan, that'll show up a bit more within the next few chapters and is inspired by this picture here: .com/art/The-one-Diseased-by-Thorns-291715638. I appreciate your reviews, they've been super cool~! Oh and party about reaching 50 reviews~! Ain't that awesome?

Alan made his way down the street slowly, clinging to his scythe to help keep him vertical. He stopped by an old building and leaned against the wall, panting heavily. An old woman passed by him and paused, giving him a sad look before continuing on. Did he really look that pathetic? It was true he felt like hell but he couldn't look that terrible, could he? He knew that Eric looked absolutely terrible, that demon had been doing a number on him. He sniffed and looked up, cringing when he realised it had begun to rain again. He shook his head as he continued on slowly, occasionally holding his chest when he felt the thorns hold onto his heart.

"Nyaaa~ nyaa~ Meoooooooooow..." Alan stopped and looked around for the noise, smiling when he heard soft mewing. Poor thing sounded so scared, probably with nowhere to stay dry. He sighed and crept down an alley, stopping when a scruffy black kitten peeked out from an overturned rubbish bin. Alan cocked his head to the side and smiled a little, kneeling to it's level and grinning. It kept staring at him and slowly crept to the edge. "Meow?" Alan kept smiling at her, reaching a hand out to try and convince it to come closer.

"It's alright kitty...I won't hurt you...I'll keep you safe," He knelt down on all fours and crawled over to the bin, holding his hand out still. The kitten sniffed his finger and licked the water off of it, nuzzling him a little. "See? I'm a good reaper...you're so skittish, my best friend would love you," he grinned as the kitten slipped out further, watching him quietly. Halfway out of the bin, she stopped and arched her back, hair standing on end. "What's wrong?" The kitten's ears flattened out and looked up, hissing loudly at a dark figure behind the brunette. "Kitty? What's wr—Mmmph!" He gasped and started kicking as the figure grabbed him and slammed him against the wall. "P-please...don't hurt me!"

"Oh I won't hurt you, reaper...I'm going to kill you!" He cringed and shivered heavily, going wide yed when realised how familiar the voice sounded. He could have sworn it was Eric but it was far too low and gravelly to be sure. He swallowed hard and looked back at the dark figure before inhaling heavily, coughing and grabbing his chest. The figure narrowed its eyes and smirked. "Looks like I won't have to kill you..." He growled and tightened his hold on Alan's throat before tossing him against the opposite wall. He cried out when his head hit the bricks and he slumped down into a heap, shivering as rain poured down on him.

"...W-..." He held his chest tight and watched the figure walk away from him. He swallowed as kept coughing and begging, lifting a hand up to the side of his head and wincing when he felt blood coming from the side of his head. "Ooooooowwwwwww...Somebody...anybody...help...me..." he swallowed hard and his vision began to cloud and he smiled a little when the kitten came over to nuzzle him. And then, blackness.

"This is NOT how I wanted to spend my day off, Ronald. Now could you PLEASE tell me what the hell we're doing here?" Ronald looked back and shrugged, running a hand through his hair.

"That Barker guy said that he knew where Alan and Eric were, I want him to prove it. Now...where is he?" Ronald looked around slowly and ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't have decided to back out at the last second. Then again, nobody had said there was somewhere to meet at, now did they? Ronald sighed and stopped by an alley, furrowing his eyebrows when he thought he heard something. "Boss...you hear that?"

William stopped behind the blond and narrowed his eyes, looking out for any sources of sound. He pulled a small light from his pocket and shined it into an alleyway. Nothing. Some kitten nudging a corpse, bits of rotting garbage and dirty shreds of clothing left behind by prostitutes, maybe even a few rats hiding out. The cat turned in his direction and mewled softly, tugging on the sleeve with it's teeth.

"Just some cat...and some poor soul attacked by a demon. Looks like they had their soul sucked out already...Nothing we can do about it. Come along Knox," He shoved the light back into his pocket as they continued on their way, far too wrapped up to notice the hand twitching as a thorn covered vine peeked out from under his sleeve.

Alan stirred when the kitten nipped his nose, pushing his glasses up slowly. He narrowed his eyes a little and saw William and Ronald walking away, sitting up slowly and holding out a hand to them. He tried crying out them but it was far too hoarse for them to hear.

"William...Ronald...h-help...c-come back! No..." He slammed his fist on the ground and began sobbing silently, shaking like a leaf. Very slowly he grabbed his scythe and pulled himself up, glancing down at the kitten after it hopped onto another rubbish bin, mewing softly. "Y-you want to...come with me...?" The kitten mewled softly and cocked it's head. Alan smiled at it and reached an arm out, grinning when she slowly climbed up. "What if...I call you...Erica...? Just like my...favourite flower..." He sniffed and clinged to his scythe again when the cat was safely resting on his shoulder, slowly walking out of the alley. He cringed and held the side of his head again, wincing when he felt how large the gash in his head was. He swallowed hard and looked around slowly, glancing around for Eric.

"Oh my god, Alan! Look at you! What were you thinking?" He looked over at Thomas slowly and swallowed hard, swaying a bit. Before he could fall again Thomas ran over and grabbed him, holding him up. "What happened to you, Al? Did you—Oh my...your head! Alan, how did this happen? Hey, Look at me...how hard did you hit your head?" Alan stared at him silently before his scythe fell and he collapsed in Thomas's arms. "Oh my god..." He swallowed hard and looked around panicked.

"What are you staring at?"

"Shut up." He cringed when he felt a stabbing pain in the base of his skull. He clenched his eyes shut and held on tight to the edge of the roof, shaking his head.

"Awwwww, is something wrong, reaper? Are you depressed because of what you did to that weak little creature you call a lover? It's his own f-"

"I said shut up! You have no right to talk about him like you know him!" He cringed again and jumped down from the rooftop, looking around. "When do you plan to get out of my head?"

"I told you...you're mine now, reaper. And I'm never letting go of you," Another wave of pain shook his entire body. Eric shook his head and threw himself against the wall, cringing when he hit his bad arm, feeling it break again.

"AHH! Jesus!" He swallowed hard and flung himself against the wall again, shuddering and sobbing quietly. He felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced over through his tears.

"My dear boy, are you alright?" The blond stayed silent as his vision cleared slightly, the woman smiled and patted his shoulder gently before continuing on her way. Eric narrowed his eyes and hissed at the burn her touch left on his skin.

"...It hurts..."

"She's the very epitome of pure. Follow her! Follow the nun, reaper! You can save Alan...just follow her! Do y-"

"She can help me get you out of my head..." The blond smirked and followed silently, stopping in front of a church. He set a hand on the stair rail and jerked back, holding it tight and hissing, "It burns! Jesus, it burns!"

"What did you expect, reaper?" Eric growled in response and rubbed his hand slowly, shaking his head.

"Just shut up, demon..."