Shinigami-cat: So... I OWN NOTHING!

Welcome to stalkers

The days that followed were pretty normal for Arthur... considering he just helped Francis hide two bodies a few days ago. Speaking of Francis he seemed to be normal too. Antonio and Gilbert were acting like it never happened. At the moment Arthur was watching TV. Thank the lord they showed Dr Who in Australia.

Suddenly the phone rang making Arthur sigh. He wanted to keep watching... but it was a repeat so... "Hello? Who's this?"

"Arthur? It's me... Francis..."

Arthur frowned. "What do you want Francis?"

"Well... I wouldn't have called but... I think it's important. You know how a while ago you said that the Beilschmidt's might be behind the mysterious murders and disappearances?"

Arthur sighed. "Francis... I wasn't being serious you know. It was just speculation. I'm totally wrong and I know it."

"I don't think so."

"What?"

"A... a few days ago... Natalia disappeared."

Arthur's eyes went wide. "Natalia? Doesn't she work at that clinic down the road?"

"The very same... She disappeared last night. The Beilschmidt's are responsible."

"What? That has to be a joke." Said Arthur. "How the bloody hell could you know that?"

"Well... Yesterday I went over to Gilbert's house and..."

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Francis walked down the hallway to Gilbert's room. Ludwig said Gilbert should be there shortly, so that's where he was heading. But as he walked past Mr Beilschmidt's study he froze.

"So is everything ready?" Asked Julius.

"Yes." Said Gilbert. "Everything has been prepared. Natalia Braginski walked off into the bushlands and disappeared."

Francis's eyes went wide. 'Natalia? She's gone? What happened to her? Why?'

Julius chuckled darkly. "She shouldn't have been walking on our land."

"Yes Opa." Said Gilbert. "The day after tomorrow a search party will be sent out to look for her. She will not be found."

"Excellent Gilbert." Said Julius. "You might end up taking over the business after all. That is if you keep your head above the water and maybe... just maybe... You never know."

"Thank you Opa." Said Gilbert. "I won't disappoint you."

Francis couldn't believe what he was hearing. The Beilschmidt's were behind all of the disappearances. He had to get out of there. Now. He quickly ran down the hall and was about to reach the back door when something grabbed him from behind and knocked him to his knees. Francis was face to face with one Gilbert Beilschmidt. "Gilbert." He whimpered.

Gilbert glared at him and grabbed the front of his shirt. "That's right Francis. Natalia is gone."

"You did it didn't you." Said Francis. "The Beilschmidt's are behind everything."

Gilbert chuckled and pulled Francis closer to his face. "You think so? Well you're wrong. Natalia was taken away... she was taken away by the thing that lives out there... The thing in the bushlands that takes everyone."

Francis shook his head and pushed Gilbert away. "No... I know it was you... You killed Monica... You killed her! She saw you the night before she disappeared! You murderer!"

Before Gilbert could say anything Francis had turned around and ran for his life. He couldn't forgive Gilbert for what he had done. But if the Beilschmidt's were responsible for the murders... Wouldn't the two other grate families know something about them? There was only one way to find out.

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"... So I hacked my father's computer to see if the police dug up anything suspicious at Kiku's house... I found a diary. It explains everything."

Arthur was stunned. He couldn't believe Francis had said something like that to Gilbert, and now he had evidence too? Interesting. "So what does it say?"

"It talks about the history of the town. Fever Lake used to be a thriving town back when there was gold, but then strange things started to happen..."

"What kind of things?"

"People began to act really strange. They would start to hallucinate and talk about strange visions they had seen... Eventually people began to become paranoid and suspicious. In an attempt to control the hysteria the three grate families came into power. The Kiku's took care of the import and export of all gold, the Vargas's managed the illegal and legal herbs and medicines that entered the town and the Beilschmidt's were the law enforcement."

"But what does that have to do with the murders?" Asked Arthur.

"I was getting to that... Anyway in an attempt to control the town's people they locked up anyone who showed signs of hysteria. They would lock them up in a secret underground torture chamber at the back of the Vargas house hold and lock them all away... If they didn't improve or became violent... They would be brutally killed."

"What?" Asked Arthur stunned. "Why would that happen?"

"Research. The head of the Vargas house hold at the time used to be a surgeon back in Italy and he wanted to continue his research. What better test subject to use than ones that have disappeared?"

Arthur sighed. "Okay... as gruesome as that is... Why would people keep disappearing now?"

"It's all part of the plan. To keep the town under their control. They only go after the ones that are close to discovering the truth. That's why I believe Monica, Kiku and Natalia were killed. Monica saw Gilbert the night before she was killed, Kiku... according to the police report he was going to talk to you about something important a few hours before he died and Natalia always went for walks out in the bush it is possible that she saw something she wasn't mean to see."

Arthur nodded. "I see... But Francis... Aren't you afraid about this? I mean you could be next. After all you found out all this stuff right?"

"I know Arthur... That's why I'm telling you this now... I don't know how long it will be before I'm taken away... I don't want to die but... I needed to tell you this in case I did... Hey Arthur... We are friends right?"

"Of course we are." Said Arthur. "Don't forget that okay?"

"... Thank you Arthur." Francis hung up.

Arthur put the phone down and frowned. "So... the Beilschmidt's are really behind everything? But what about everyone else? This is so confusing..."

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The next day Francis wasn't at school. Arthur was worried. "Damn... where the bloody hell is he?"

"I know right?" Said Antonio. "He was meant to be here... But I guess he is sick or something."

Gilbert sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess it's my fault... I kind of scared the shit out of him the other day... I'll call him tonight and talk to him."

"Sounds good." Said Antonio.

Arthur frowned at Gilbert. 'He's not here because I'm sure you did something to him.'

Soon the bell rang signalling the end of school day and everyone ran out. Once again there was no club meeting. Everyone just wanted to go home. As they left Alfred called out to Arthur. "Het Iggy! Mattie and I are going to get ice cream wanna come?"

Arthur shook his head. "No thanks. I just want to go home." Alfred shrugged and walked off with Matthew. So anyway Arthur ended up walking home down the long dusty road when suddenly he heard a twig snap. He quickly turned to see a hand sticking out of some bushes waving him over. Arthur frowned and walked over to the hand. Suddenly the hands reached out and pulled him in.

Arthur was about to scream when he saw who it was that had grabbed him. "Ssh!" Hissed Francis. "Do you want to get us both killed? Look, here they come."

Arthur looked though a small gap in between the leaves and frowned. A large white van drove past. When they were gone Arthur pulled Francis's hand away. "What the bloody hell Francis? Where the hell were you today?"

Francis frowned. "I was going to be at school today... But that van has been following me all day."

"What?"

Francis nodded. "I think it's they have been sent by the Beilschmidt's to kidnap me."

"Um... Why would you say that?"

Francis glared at Arthur. "Because they know that I know all about them doing that stuff."

Arthur sighed. "Okay... So if they are following you... What can you do about it?"

Francis bit his lip and looked away. "Arthur... I can trust you right?"

Arthur nodded. "Of course you can."

"Good..." Said Francis. "Because what I'm about to tell you... you can't tell anyone okay? I'm going to run away soon... But I have something's to do before I leave for good... Getting supplies and stuff... Then I'm going to run away to Indonesia. Sadly that's the closest country I can get to..."

Arthur shook his head. "Don't you think that's a bit rash?"

Francis frowned. "I thought I could trust you."

"You can." Said Arthur. "Friends don't keep secrets from each other... But I promise I won't tell anyone okay?"

Francis smiled and stood up. "Thank you Arthur. I might see you later." With that he quickly walked away into the bushlands. Arthur sighed and began to walk back home. What Francis said was just weird... But it could be true.

As he walked down the road a van pulled up next to him and the guy driving wound down his window. "Hey kid have you seen another kid walk by this way? He's a bit taller than you, wavy blond hair, and dark blue eyes? Have you seen a boy like that walk by?"

Arthur gulped. "No sir I haven't."

The man frowned. "Really? I saw him walk down here earlier... Are you sure you haven't seen him?"

"No sir." Said Arthur. "I haven't seen anyone walking down here but myself walking down here."

"Really? That's a little hard to believe but okay." The man winded up his window and drove away.

Arthur gulped. 'Francis was right... They are after him.'

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Later that night Arthur was in his room trying to digest what he had happened that day. So Francis found out that the Beilschmidt's were behind the murders and now he was being stalked by kidnappers working for said Beilschmidt's and was planning to run away to Indonesia... Wow...

He was about to contemplate what to do about him when the doorbell rang. First time that ever happened too. He walked over to the door and opened the door. He was shocked to see Gilbert standing there. "Hey Arthur can I talk to you outside for a second?"

Arthur frowned. "Okay." He stepped outside and closed the door. "What do you want to talk about?"

Gilbert sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Well... Francis is missing... Do you have any idea where he went? I've been looking for him everywhere. Hell... I even convinced some of Opa's men to look for him too."

"Why would you do that?" Asked Arthur.

"Because I'm worried about him." Said Gilbert. "He just... I scared the hell out of him the other day and I just want to talk to him about it... I think he got the wrong idea... I don't want him to do something crazy because he might end up doing just that because of... well... you know."

Arthur sighed. It made slightly more sense now. "Okay... If I see him I'll tell him."

Gilbert grinned. "Awesome. Oh that reminds me! You know those bodies we hid the other day?"

"What about them?"

Gilbert chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Well you see my old man told me that he leased some of the land to farmers a few weeks ago and they were going to start chopping down the trees near where the bodies were so I had them moved to a secret location. Okay? Later." Gilbert jumped on his bike and peddled off.

Arthur frowned. "Well... I guess I should find Francis and tell him what's going on. Now where would he be hiding...? The tip!"

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When Arthur finally got to the tip it was pitch black. Arthur sighed and turned on his torch. He began to navigate his way to the combi van. When he got there Francis was just getting out carrying his axe. "Hey Francis!" Called Arthur. "I need to talk to you!"

Francis turned to Arthur and sighed. "Hello Arthur. What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you. You stupid git." Said Arthur. "You wouldn't believe what has just happened."

Francis chuckled darkly. "Can I tell you what I found out first?"

Arthur nodded. "Go ahead."

"You know how before I was talking to you about how the Beilschmidt's are responsible for the murders... I was only half right. The truth is that they are working with aliens. They want to take over the earth and they are working with the Beilschmidt's to do it."

"... What?"

Francis nodded. "It's true. It was all in Kiku's note book. The aliens are using Fever Lake as a test grounds for their weapon. They want to take over the world."

"... That's ridiculous." Said Arthur. "That sounds like something Alfred would say."

Francis shrugged. "It doesn't matter if you don't believe it. The point is that it is true." He walked past Arthur but paused. "Oh that reminds me Arthur... Today I went to check on the bodies we buried a few days ago... do you know that I found?" He clenched the axe and growled. "They were gone Arthur... Someone came along and dug up everything we buried. The only ones that knew about the bodies were the very same people that helped me bury them... It was Gilbert wasn't it?"

Arthur shook his head. "No Gilbert was just-"

"SO IT WAS GILBERT!" Screamed Francis. "HE BETRAYED ME!"

"No you don't understand!" Said Arthur. "Gilbert was doing it to protect you! Is there any other reason you hate Gilbert? Is your paranoia the only thing that's making you hate him? Tell me Francis! Friends don't keep secrets from each other! "

"LIAR!" Screamed Francis. "LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! LIAR! LIAR! SHUT UP!" Francis fell to his knees and began to shiver.

"Hey what's wrong Francis?" Asked Arthur. He kneeled in front of Francis and put his hands on the Frenchman's shoulders. "You shouldn't over exert yourself."

Francis suddenly threw his head back and began to laugh maniacally. "Secrets? SECRETS? I SHOULDN'T BE KEEPING SECRETS FROM MY FRIENDS? HA! YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!"

Arthur was taken aback by his outburst but kept a firm grip on his shoulders. "What the hell are you on about?"

Francis smirked and looked into Arthur's eyes. "I wasn't sure if I could trust you... so I took the liberty of hacking my father's computer to see if you had a criminal record... Guess what I found."

Arthur's eyes widened and he removed his hands from Francis's shoulders. "No..." He trembled. "No... You didn't..."

Francis nodded and stood up. "That's right Arthur... Who knew we were living with such a dangerous criminal. How would have thought you were living among us?"

Arthur shook his head. "No! Please... Stop!"

Francis smirked. "What kind of boy kills their own father in cold blood then claims insanity? Did you get some sick pleasure from watching your father bleed out?"

Arthur covered his ears shook his head. "No... It was in self-defence... I didn't mean to..."

"Did you love it so much you just had to open him up to see if there was any more of that beautiful crimson liquid?"

Arthur was now a trembling mess. "No... It was self-defence... I... I... I thought he was going to kill me... I... He was drunk... My dad had a gun... I... I wasn't found guilty!"

"Yes... the justice system looks a little too kindly on children." Francis tilted Arthur's chin so that they were facing. "Friends don't keep secrets from each other Arthur. Arthur Kirkland you are not my friend!"

"Francis..."

Francis picked up the torch and his axe and began to walk away. "I'm going to go now... There are some very important things I need to do before I leave Fever Lake for good. Don't follow me."

Francis wouldn't have even have had to tell Arthur that. He was so distraught over what Francis had said he couldn't even move. "I... I didn't mean to..." He whimpered. "It wasn't my fault... It wasn't... Please... Forgive me please..."

TBC

Shinigami-cat: So... Francis is going crazy! Please review!