Shinigami-cat: Yeah it's been a while… I OWN NOTHING!

Welcome to Matthew's story

The beast howled and started to tear into Matthew. Matthew screamed as his soft flesh was torn into. Tears fell from his face and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. For a few moments there was blissful darkness but then he was awake again, but this time it was different… He was standing next to a tree watching his body getting ripped apart by the giant dog.

He didn't have time to worry about why he was still there, he hid. From his hiding spot he could see the wolf creature slowly change, its skin bubbled and boiled away to a shapeless black blob, its white eyes were wide and hollow and its mouth, if you could even call it that, opened up as wide as a snake's mouth and swallowed up Matthew's corps and slithered away.

Matthew looked at his murder scene with wide eyes. "It's gone…" He whispered. "All of it… Not even a drop of blood…" Tears began to well in his eyes. "They'll never find me… I'm gone… That thing took me away…"

Not knowing what to do he started to walk home. Along the way he started to feel the effects of being dead, meaning he hardly needed to move his feet to walk long distances, he moved through trees and rocks without stumbling or bumping into them.

He knew he was in a state of shock. Who wouldn't be? But more than anything he was confused. He had been taught all his life that when someone dies they move into some kind of afterlife, whether it be heaven, hell or whatever he didn't know. He just knew that he shouldn't be there anymore.

As he walked home he noticed things he hadn't before. Dark shapes moving through the trees and a childish giggling filled the air. He gulped and started to move faster, but the laughing followed him. The sky seemed to be filled with hundreds of eyes all fixed on him. The Southern Cross that always pointed him north, the way home, was now lost in his eyes. He hated this feeling of dread that was building up inside. He felt like an animal being stalked by an unforseen predator.

He started to run. Fear had taken its hold and refused to let go. It was chocking him, ripping at him, consuming him. As he ran laughter filled his ears. The twisted dead laughter of children but there was something else in there. Something older, something darker… a feminine voice filled with malice and hate. Through the corner of his eye he saw a woman. She was wearing old clothes and had her hair tied back in a messy bun. She was there for a second and then she was gone.

Matthew gulped and kept running. He ended up running through someone's back yard and tripped over his own two feet. He yelped as he crashed to the ground. He turned his head to see a monstrous black shape looming over him with wide hungry eyes. Matthew screamed and pulled his arms over his face. But the attack never came. Slowly he moved his arms away and looked up at the creature. It just hovered over Matthew but his eyes were no longer Matthew. They were now on something behind him.

Matthew gulped and turned his head. Kiku was standing behind him holding a candle. His eyes were deadly, full of hate. "Leave my house." He growled. "You have no power here." The creature hissed but did as it was told and left Kiku's house. When the creature was gone Kiku breathed a sigh of relief and extended his hand to Matthew. "Do you need help Matthew kun?"

Matthew's eyes went wide. "You can see me? But I'm dead."

Kiku looked at Matthew for a moment like he was an odd creature and sighed sadly. "You best come inside Matthew kun. You don't want that thing to eat you now do you?"

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After a few minutes Matthew was sitting in Kiku's lounge room all alone, while Kiku made some tea. Soon he was back and sitting with Matthew. "I would offer you some tea but I am not sure your body would be able to retain it at the moment."

Matthew smiled and shrugged. "It's okay… What was that thing?"

Kiku sighed. "I'm Matthew kun. I have no idea what it is."

"Well how can you see me and that thing?"

"It is both a gift and a curse carried through my family." Said Kiku. He took a sip of tea and frowned. "For years we have been able to see spirits, but to avoid being labelled as strange and odd we don't mention them… Those creatures have been around for years… Night spirits we call them, but they are so much more. They eat the souls of children and use their forms to lure more children to their deaths."

Matthew nodded. So he was killed creature's called night spirits that eat the souls of children. He felt like crying. A choked cry escaped his lips. "What am I going to do? I'm a ghost! I don't know how to move on and that thing wants to eat me! My life is over!"

Kiku nodded. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Huh?"

"You said it yourself. You are a ghost. Your life is over, but your after life is just beginning. You can do everything you wish." Said Kiku. "You can bend reality to your will, change how people perceive things. Change how people think… what they remember… how they remember… a creature like you is very powerful."

Matthew looked at Kiku with wide eyes. Was Kiku suggesting that he should manipulate the thoughts of everyone in the town? Could he do that? Should he do that? The idea seemed so farfetched that it didn't seem possible. But if he tried could he? "Could I do that?"

Kiku shrugged. "Just think about it. Life would be so much easier for everyone if they could just forget the pain and suffering life here would be so much more bearable."

Matthew nodded. 'Yeah… Francis was on the brink of suicide when they stopped looking for Monica… Yeah I could do that if I really wanted to… Everyone will feel better… No one will have to suffer. I can make it all better… No one… No one will have to feel pain again.'

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Over the next few months Matthew worked his hardest to change the memories and feelings of the children and adults of the town. The adults were easy. They don't have the constant fear and over reacting imagination of a child. But with a bit more brain power he was able to change the minds of everyone.

He made Gilbert, Antonio and Francis think that they found him. He made them think he was still alive. Everything went back to normal, but his power could only work so far.

Ludwig left the town and almost got killed by one of the night spirits. It was a miracle he survived so Matthew had to increase his abilities to erase the sting of the trauma out of Ludwig's system. That pretty much wiped him out. He was always tired after that… It was to be his down fall.

One day he happened to be walking alone when he was attacked again. Once again by a night spirit. It grabbed him and pinned him to a tree. It appeared in the form of a beautiful woman in old clothes, but her eyes were black and hollow. "So you're the funny little soul that slipped away from my children." Her British accent was thick in her throat. "My name is Mary Skinner. But you may call me M.S."

Matthew whimpered. "Please… please don't kill me… Please don't eat my soul!"

The woman laughed and wiped away a tear. "Oh you are so funny little boy. So scared and terrified of the unknown. Silly boy. I want to make a deal."

Matthew looked at the figure with wide eyes. "A deal?"

The woman nodded. "Yes child. You see me and my children have been watching you for a while now and we like you. You entertain us. You make us laugh."

"I entertain you?" Asked Matthew.

The woman nodded. "Yes you do funny boy. Now here is the deal, we won't eat your soul on the condition that you keep entertaining us. Making us laugh. In addition we will even give you some valuable information about all the fun things we are going to do."

"Is this just a game to you?" Spat Matthew. "We are human beings! We have lives! We have families!"

"Don't talk to me about families." Hissed the woman. "The people of this town, your ancestors took my family away from me. They killed my child so I will kill theirs. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. A child for a child."

Matthew laughed. "You've taken way to many children for that to be fair."

The woman hissed and the colour began to drain away from her face, leaving nothing but sleek, black skin. "Don't you even think about speaking to me like that boy." She chuckled and ran a sleek finger across Matthew's face. "Remember the second you stop entertaining us you will die. You will become my latest child… or if you happen to really piss me off you can become a tree."

She pushed Matthew to the ground and disappeared. Matthew whimpered and quickly sat up. What could he do? Become one of that thing's children or be their toy? It seemed like a lose, lose situation to him. A soft voice giggled and Matthew looked up. Monica was standing in front of him, like she had never died. But her eyes were dead. "Hello funny boy. I want to show you something fun."

Monica had shown Matthew many things, the Vargas secret torture chamber, the mausoleums, the bone room and everything in between. Everything that Matthew saw pulled him closer and closer to insanity. The knowledge of knowing the town's darkest secrets was killing him again, but he couldn't die, so he went insane instead.

Then Arthur came along… something different, something new, something fun. The night spirits enjoyed watching him trying to uncover the town's secrets. They made a game out of it. Every time Arthur tried to dig up information they would make another die. They laughed at his frustration and his panic as things went from bad to worse.

Every now and then they would reward him with information, but mostly they liked to screw him around. Making Matthew freak him out every now and then just for laughs. They were pissed beyond belief when Francis didn't kill Arthur. They realized Arthur could stop their plans. Maybe it was because he was British like M.S was? But they didn't care.

After that they got extremely angry with Arthur. They wanted to make him suffer, make him pay. So they sent Matthew to do it. They almost lost it all together when Matthew almost raped Arthur against the mausoleum. It was so entertaining. It made them laugh. It made them happy. It extended Matthew's half-life.

Matthew hated it. He hated it all. He just wanted it to stop. The endless cycle of death and destruction that had gripped the town. To find the end of this labyrinth of hate and despair was all he wanted. But he knew nothing could free him. Nothing ever would. He would be forced to live in this world f suffering forever and ever… forced to watch everyone die, making them forget but he would never forget. He would always remember. All the blood. All the hate. All the mistrust. All the anger. Always remembering, never forgetting.

TBC

Shinigami-cay: Oh got that took forever… PLEASE REVIEW!