Author's Note: First of all, thanks to everyone who reviewed on the first chapter! It means a lot to me that you take the time to do it. In this chapter, Axel gets the living daylights scared out of him and his brother abuses his power as his boss. Things are gonna start getting interesting pretty soon...

~::~

People often discredit things which they cannot see or hear or feel for themselves as being false. Ghost stories are never taken literally by most; they are discarded and degraded as just fantasy stories to scare little children off to bed. Magic is merely wishful thinking on humanity's part. All of the strange happenings in the world can be described by the miracle that is modern science. That is, until the stories wish to make themselves known.

~::~

The first thing Axel registered when he woke up the next morning was that his ass was incredibly sore. He groaned and rolled over onto his chest, massaging his aching backside. He hadn't expected it to be quite this bad, but he deserved it, he supposed. He glanced at his clock to see that his alarm had failed to wake him up at the time it was supposed to, which was almost an hour ago now.

The redhead sighed, battling with himself over whether he should get up and take some aspirin or sleep a few more hours. His aching backside eventually won out, and he dragged himself out from under the covers of his bed and into the kitchen. He swallowed two of the red-orange pills, hoping they would work fast enough so that he could sit down without screaming.

Unsure what else to do until the medicine took effect, Axel limped to his bathroom and stripped so he could take a shower. At one point, he glanced over his shoulder to see that there were long, shallow scratches down the length of his back, courtesy of Saix's abnormally sharp nails. He winced and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water wash away some of his fatigue. The aspirin was already starting to help by the time he emerged from the shower and started to dry himself off. He walked back to his room in his towel and grabbed a random pair of jeans and a t-shirt from one of his dresser drawers to change into. After doing this, he returned to the kitchen to eat breakfast.

"Damnit, Saix, why do you have to be so rough?" he groaned as he sat down in one of the wooden kitchen chairs with his food in hand. His backside still felt like it was on fire, but at least he could stand it for a short time. If he focused on not burning his mouth on his tea and oatmeal, then it made it bearable.

Just as he was finishing, the telephone rang. Axel set his dishes in the sink and limped to his room. "Hello?" he said into the receiver as he picked up.

"Axel? Hey, I was wondering when you'd wake up," Demyx's voice answered him. "I called about half an hour ago, but I guess you were still asleep."

"Yeah, sorry about that. My alarm failed to wake me up. I'm still exhausted from last night. It was a bigger job than I thought it would be," the redhead said apologetically.

"That's okay. I guess you probably don't want to come with me and Zexion then, huh?" Demyx tried not to sound disappointed.

Axel was about to give him a reassuring smile when he remembered that Demyx couldn't actually see him. "I wish I could, but I think you two should go out and have a fun time. I'd just slow you down. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Well… Okay. Bye." Demyx ended the call.

Axel replaced the phone before collapsing face-first on his bed with a groan. He wanted to go back to sleep so badly. He was off work on Sunday anyways, but he felt like he should get something done with his time instead of wasting it all. When he glanced at his leather jacket, lying in a crumpled heap on the floor nearby, he remembered his meeting with Roxas. Wincing, he stood and walked over to it so he could pick it up. He searched the pockets for a moment before finding the napkin with Roxas's number on it. He then retrieved the phone and sat gingerly on his bed.

Only one ring after he dialed the number, Roxas answered. "Hello?"

"Um… Hey. It's Axel, the guy from last night?"

"Oh. Hey," Roxas sounded mildly surprised when he responded. A loud yell issued from somewhere on the other end of the line. "Shit. Excuse me for one second. Hayner! Pence! Shut the fuck up! I'm on the phone!"

There was a burst of static and a new voice said, "Who're you talking to, Roxas? Did you finally get yourself a girlfriend or something?"

"Hayner, piss off!" Roxas growled. There was another burst of static and then the blonde seemed to have control over the phone again. "Sorry about that. My friends are being dicks."

"Correction: Hayner and Pence are being dicks! I didn't do anything!" a female voice called.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry, Olette," Axel imagine that the blonde was rolling his eyes. "So, my friends told me they saw somebody who looked like you yesterday, about the place where we had our little… accident."

"The group on the skateboards? Yeah, they almost ran into me, too," Axel replied, smirking to himself. "Your little group seems to be making that a habit."

"Well, anyways, how about you come hang out with us? I'd like to get to know you, I think. You're… interesting."

"As weird as that sounds, okay. Time and place, please?"

"My friends are usually less annoying after eating something, so how about one o' clock at the skate park five blocks from your apartment?" Roxas suggested.

"…there's a skate park around here?"

"Yes, right next to the magical kingdom full of fairies and unicorns and girly shit like that," Axel could almost feel the sarcasm of Roxas's words through the phone. "Go three blocks north and two east and you'll find it. It's kinda hard to miss. We're usually there any day we don't have work."

"Okay. I guess I'll see you then," the redhead said.

"I guess so," Roxas's words sounded as if they had a grin accompanying them. "Oh, and I promise we won't make you do any skateboard tricks or anything. I'm sure your ass hurts like hell." The line went dead, and Axel stared at the phone for a moment in wonder. This kid's observational skills were either really, really good, or there something more to the whole magic thing he'd mentioned the night before.

Axel shook his head. Some people nowadays were just downright strange.

~::~

One o' clock saw Axel full from a late lunch and almost late to arrive at the skate park Roxas had directed him to. He immediately spotted the group of four lounging on the far side of the concrete slab adorned with various ramps and other items to perform tricks on. The redhead opened the gate on the chain link fence surrounding it and avoided several other skateboarders as he made his way over to them.

Roxas, who was lying down on top of one of the ramps with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed, greeted Axel when he walked up despite not having seen who it was. "Hey. I was wondering when you'd show up. I almost thought you'd bail."

"But how did you know…" Axel shook his head in amazement and nodded to the rest of his little group. "Hi. I'm Axel, Roxas's new… friend."

"I'm Hayner," said the other blonde, who was wearing khaki pants and a dark blue sweatshirt instead of his camouflage cargo pants and vest. He hopped off of his perch on the railing on top of another ramp nearby. He walked over to Axel and had to crane his neck to see his face. "Shit, are you tall."

"Um… Thanks?" The redhead scratched the back of his head.

The girl, Olette, chided Hayner. "You idiot, be nice! How would you like it if somebody came up to you and said something about your hair?" The other blonde grumbled a string of obscenities and pawed at his hair. Obviously she had hit a sore nerve.

The remaining boy who had refrained from speaking, who Axel took to be Pence, rolled his eyes. "Chill out, Hayner. Your hair's cool, man."

Roxas sniggered and sat up as Hayner glared at Pence and continued to fix the nonexistent problem. "What a dumbass."

Axel stood there feeling very awkward. This was obviously a tight-knit circle, and he knew he didn't belong. As the four friends joked with one another, he took a moment to take in Roxas's appearance. The blonde's ensemble was still all black, but today he was weary baggy cargo pants much like Hayner's from the day before, a fitted black t-shirt, and a black trench coat with rips up both sleeves. He had less belts secured around his waist, but his neck was adorned with a thick, black leather choker covered in metal studs, and two chains, one with a silver cross attached to it and the other a small circle of wood with a pentagram engraved in it.

"Sorry if it seems like we're ignoring you," Axel snapped back to reality when Roxas spoke to him. "My friends are just being stupid again."

"Says you!" Hayner retorted. "Apparently my hair is a mess and nobody told me before we left your place!"

"Your hair is fine. Seriously. We would've told you if it wasn't, believe me," Roxas rolled his eyes and turned back to Axel, patting the empty space on top of the ramp next to him. "You can sit down if you want."

The redhead took the invitation, climbing up the ladder to sit beside the blonde boy. He glanced down at him, surprised by how short he still was, even sitting down. The other three began quarreling amongst themselves about something, and Axel took the opportunity to ask Roxas something that had been bugging him for the past few minutes. "Hey, I'm curious… Since you've never met me before yesterday, why do you trust me enough to let me hang out with you and your friends? I could've been a homicidal psychopath for all you know."

"But you're not," Roxas said simply, not looking at him. "I knew you weren't pretty much from the moment we met."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. One, you don't look like it, and two, it's not in your aura," the blonde said matter-of-factly, as if Axel knew what he were talking about. "You're very… orange. I'm not used to seeing one as intense as yours. That's what intrigued me."

The redhead looked down at his hands. "I'm not orange. What are you talking about?"

Roxas gave him that quirky little half-smile again. "You've got a lot to learn."

Axel was starting to get exasperated with the other man. He wasn't the most patient person in the world, but this was ridiculous. "Well, you'd better start now if you want to keep me around because if I get too confused, I'll leave."

"Hmm. We can't have that, can we?" Roxas chewed his lip thoughtfully. Axel noticed that he had two tiny silver studs on either side of his mouth. What were they called again? Snake bites, or something like that? The redhead wondered if he ever got food stuck on them. "What I mean by aura is the energy field that every human being has around them. There are different colors, like orange, blue, green, and so on, but they all tell me something about the person. Yours is predominantly orange with a little bit of dark yellow around the very edges. That means you're a very strong-willed person, but either you've got a lot of pain in your life or you need anger management."

Axel was dumbfounded. "And how exactly do you see this… aura thing?"

"Stay really, really still for a second," Axel obeyed. Roxas stared at his forehead for what seemed like an eternity before he allowed him to move again. "Yup. Very orange. I can see it around you when I stare at your forehead. It has to do with the whole energy flow in the human body."

"Um… Okay. I'll take your word for that."

"What, you don't believe me?" Roxas stared up at him innocently.

Axel fought back the strange urge to lick his nose and see if he tasted like candy. "It's not that I don't believe you… I'm just not sure what to think. I've never been a huge believer in all of that paranormal, magic-related stuff. Neither have I believed much in 'higher powers' and all that shit."

"Ah. I take it you're agnostic, then?"

"Yes, and you're a Wicca."

Roxas grinned, his hand moving to grasp the little wooden charm strung around his neck. "Ah, so you noticed. I hope that's not a problem?"

"Nah. It just might take some convincing to get me to really believe you. I've been an agnostic since I was sixteen," Axel replied. "So, if you're Wiccan, do you do all of the rituals and stuff that go along with it? Which pantheon of gods do you believe in? What's your aura color? Am I asking too many questions?"

Roxas laughed. "No, I don't mind. Like I said, you're interesting. I may as well answer them to keep you around a while longer. Yes, I do celebrate all of the holidays and perform the rituals associated with them such as most of my kind do. Honestly, I don't believe in one specific pantheon, but I do believe that there are a God and a Goddess over all the others. As for my aura color… Well, I'd rather you try and see it for yourself."

"Oh, come on, I don't know how," Axel whined. "Please tell me?"

"Just stare at my forehead and see if you can notice any colors around the edges of your vision. It may take some practice, but I think you can do it," the blonde replied with a reassuring smile.

Axel grumbled under his breath but did as he was told, focusing on what he thought was the center of Roxas's forehead. They sat there for several minutes, but Axel could see nothing. He voiced his distaste loudly. "Oh, come on! Why can't I see the damn thing?"

"You mind isn't open enough, I think. Maybe you'll see it another day," Roxas mused. "Hey, Olette! What time is it?"

The brunette girl looked up from her perch atop a ramp a few feet away. She glanced at her watch and replied, "Almost two. Why?"

"Just wondering. Where did Hayner and Pence go?"

Olette shrugged. "Probably racing again, knowing them. I wouldn't worry too much."

"Probably. It's my job to worry, I'm the oldest!" Roxas called back.

Axel felt his backside starting to grow sore again and decided he'd rather lie down than have to go through more unnecessary pain. He leaned back until his head touched whatever material the ramp beneath him was made out if and folded his hands behind his head as Roxas had done earlier. This position eased the tension on his nether regions, and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Mind if I join you?"

Axel turned his head to see that Roxas had followed his example. "Whatever. I doubt your ass is as sore as mine is, though. I have a legitimate reason for doing this. You're just lazy."

"I can assure you it's not. I haven't slept with anyone since the last Ice Age came around," the blonde said wistfully. "And I'm not lazy. This stuff isn't the most comfortable to sit on in the first place, in case you hadn't noticed."

Axel grunted noncommittally and closed his eyes, trying to will away the ache that was plaguing him. It wasn't too bad outside when the wind wasn't blowing at full speed. The cold air numbed the pain a bit as Axel just lay there and hoped he wouldn't fall asleep.

What seemed like only a few moments later, the redhead felt something poking his stomach and he tried to swat it away. His hand came in contact with another hand and he opened his eyes only to see Roxas not four inches from his face, staring down at him with his big blue eyes.

"Is he dead…? Oh, look, he opened his eyes!" the blonde announced to his friends, who were also crouching around Axel.

"Shit, did I fall asleep?" Axel groaned as he Roxas moved out of his way so he could sit up. "What time is it?"

"Two-forty-five, now," Olette answered. "You were out cold."

"Man, I must've been really entertaining when I was asleep. Roxas, why the hell were you in my face like that?" Axel rubbed his lower back, which was now also sore from remaining motionless on the hard surface of the ramp.

"I was just making sure you were still breathing. We literally shouted at you and you didn't wake up," the blonde replied, chuckling at the memory. "But I figured after last night, you probably needed the sleep. Did your client keep you up?"

Roxas's friends all stared at him. "Roxas, you brought home a prostitute?" Pence gasped.

"I'm not a prostitute, I merely sell my body to make a little extra money," Axel deadpanned.

Hayner's face was the picture of confusion. "Wait a sec… But… isn't that the same thing…?"

"You're an idiot," Roxas scoffed, giving the other blonde a playful punch in the shoulder that knocked him over.

"Well, look at it this way: if Roxas thought he was okay to be around, then we've probably got nothing to worry about, guys. When was the last time he was wrong about somebody?"

Hayner scowled at Roxas as he sat up. "He was wrong when he said he punched like a girl. Damnit, that hurt!"

"Shut up, you wuss," Roxas retorted. "Take it like a man."

Axel sat there as the four friends proceeded to get into another quarrel concerning who was the manliest of them all. He wasn't sure which amazed him more, the fact that they could stay on a subject like that for almost fifteen minutes, or that fact that Olette ended up winning.

Finally Roxas left the conversation and went to sit down next to Axel again. "I apologize for ignoring you again. It's hard to get out of one of our little fights without some serious maneuvering."

"I understand. Me and my own friends can be like that sometimes. Silly little things explode into huge, ridiculous conversations that are just impossible to end," Axel replied. After a few moments of silence, he changed the subject. "So, I'd like to know… is there any other reason for you wanting to see me again other than thinking I'm… interesting?"

Roxas thought for a few moments. His half-smile returned for a split second before he replied, "I have absolutely no idea. There's just… something about you. I dunno what it is."

"My stunning good looks, maybe?" Axel smiled when this earned a laugh from Roxas. "Or maybe my apparent lack of the ability to walk down a street without the threat of imminent danger hanging over my head?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Yeah, how about none of the above? I honestly don't know. I just get these… gut feelings, instincts, whatever you want to call them. Like Olette said, they're generally right."

"So what did your instincts say about me?" Axel cocked an eyebrow as he glanced at the blonde.

Roxas met his eyes, blue gazing solemnly into green. "In general? This guy's okay, even if he doesn't look it, and he might make a good friend. Specifically? Well, I'm sure you'll figure that out on your own."

Axel groaned. "Oh, come on. Do you have some weird fetish for torturing people by withholding information from them? Because it's working."

Roxas snorted with laughter. "Ha, yeah right. I don't mean to, trust me. It's just in my nature to be secretive, I guess. I'm not trying to torture you. Believe me, if I was, you'd know it."

Axel stared at him. "Okay, remind me to never get on your bad side. I'm quite sure I'd regret it."

The smile Roxas gave him could only be described as demonic. "Oh, believe me, you would."

Axel laughed nervously. "Uh… So… Please tell me?"

Before the blonde could respond, Olette jogged up holding several bottles of water. She threw a few up to Roxas and then shot him a thankful smile before running off to find Hayner and Pence again. Axel and Roxas took one look at the water before grabbing one bottle a piece and gulping down the contents greedily.

Once he had swallowed his mouthful of water, Roxas wiped the back of his mouth with his hand and set the bottle down. "Well, if you must insist that I tell you…"

Axel stared at him eagerly. "Yeah?"

"If your ass didn't pain you so, I'd show you."

The redhead spit out the water in his mouth in a spray of droplets. He coughed several times before managing to gasp out, "Say what? You're joking, right?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Roxas said flatly, without a hint of a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "I don't joke around about things like this. If you're not going to take it seriously, then I have no reason to continue talking about it."

The blonde made as if to stand and descend the ladder that led up to he top of the ramp, but Axel grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "No, I'm sorry, I'm just… surprised that came out and said it so honestly like that. Not many people I know would do that."

Roxas gazed at him, his blue eyes seeming to pierce the redhead down to his soul. "I'll take that as a compliment. But what do I have to lose from telling you? Either the feelings are reciprocated or they're not. Simple as that."

"Life's not always so black and white."

"Depends on who's looking," the blonde replied, turning his face away from the redhead.

Axel wasn't sure what hidden nerve he had touched, but he tried to assuage the situation by placing a hand on the other man's shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry, whatever I said wrong. This is just… strange, for me. I haven't been in love or even really bothered with any new relationships in… well, in years. I don't know how to handle this."

The blonde glanced over his shoulder at the hand lying there. "Hmm. Well, I'll tell you what: let's hang out everyday for the next week, whenever we have time, and we can see how you feel by the end of that."

"A week," Axel withdrew his hand and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're expecting me to make a decision like that in a week."

"I made it in less than five seconds," Roxas replied. "I think a week is more than enough time."

The redhead snorted in disbelief. "You're kidding me. Look, kid, not everybody has these weird gut feeling things like you. The rest of us have to work to make our choices without fucking everything up."

The other man's blank expression darkened into a scowl. Axel immediately knew he'd said something wrong and hoped that Roxas wasn't about to chew him out. However, instead of the tongue-lashing he was expecting, the blonde's face shifted back after a moment and he said calmly, "Alright. If you think you need more time, I'll give you a month to make up your mind. How does that sound?"

"A month. You'd wait that long for me?"

The sarcasm was apparently lost on Roxas, who looked ecstatic. "So you'll do it?"

Axel sighed. "I guess so. I've got nothing to lose either way. Just to let you know, though, I work two jobs other than my occasional illegal excursions, so if you work too, it'll be hard to coordinate schedules."

"I'm currently house-sitting for my brother, so I'm free whenever, and yes, that includes the middle of the night, if we're forced to do that."

"So… We're really going to see each other… every day… for a whole month?" Axel asked, unsure of how they would be able to stand one another by the end of the allotted time.

"That is the general idea of my little plan, yes," Roxas's face broke into a grin. "I sure hope you can keep up with me, ginger!" The blonde man leapt up and hopped onto his skateboard, lying a few feet behind him. With a wild laugh, he launched himself down the ramp and sped off towards the ground.

"What do you mean, keep up-… Hey! No fair!" Axel scrambled down the ladder and tried to catch up with him, but the laughing blonde was halfway across the park before Axel could even run ten feet. The redhead gave up and sat down on the edge of a piece of trick equipment nearby, shaking his head. This was gonna be a long month.

Olette rolled to a stop on her skateboard next to him. "Hey, Roxas just told me about his plan. I just want to let you know now… I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into."

"What, is he gonna end up turning me into his personal voodoo doll or something if I end up saying I don't love him at the end of the month?" The sarcastic smirk on Axel's face faded as he realized that the brunette girl wasn't laughing. "Oh, shit. He wouldn't seriously do that, would he?"

Olette chewed her lip thoughtfully. "He's… different. I'm not sure how to describe him other than that. He takes what he does seriously, and he doesn't lie, either, so don't think anything he tells you is fabricated or just a sham. I'd watch my step around him, if I were you. Oh. Also, he likes blueberry, in case he ever asks what you think his favorite flavor is. Good luck!"

Axel stared after her in dismay as Olette pushed off from the concrete and went to join Hayner and Pence on one of the ramps nearby. Roxas suddenly whipped around a corner and skidded to a halt a few feet in front of the redhead, nearly giving him a heart attack.

"Shit, man, don't do things like that," Axel gasped, clutching his chest. "I think you nearly killed me."

Roxas smirked at him. "Just don't wet your pants from fright. That's a major turn-off."

"Like I would do that," Axel scoffed, standing up. He towered over the blonde man. "Look, I probably need to get home. My friends are probably wondering where the hell I am."

"No they're not. They were going out to lunch or something, right? They're most likely back at one of their apartments fucking," the blonde replied, craning his neck backwards to look up into Axel's eyes.

The redhead backed up, severely creeped out. "Okay, how the hell do you know that? I'm pretty sure I never mentioned Demyx and Zexion's plans, let alone the fact that they're in a relationship together."

Roxas tilted his head to the side, his half-smile dancing across his lips. He looked like one of those porcelain dolls that everyone always seemed to deem incredibly creepy. "You don't need to tell me, remember? I know so much about you already. Your apartment is haunted, by the way. You might want to get it exorcised."

Axel's jaw hit the pavement. "Haunted? Stop fucking with me, man. It's not funny."

Roxas's eyebrows furrowed. "You don't believe me?"

"I… Honestly, no. I've never noticed anything funky going on," the redhead replied nervously. "Look, I really think I need to get home now. I need to go check and see if this… ghost, or whatever the fuck, has been watching me in the shower."

"You don't believe me!" Roxas snarled. "Fine, then, we'll see how much faith you have in me tomorrow morning!" The blonde stomped off, leaving Axel with a lingering feeling of dread that weighed him down all the way back to his apartment.

~::~

Axel couldn't bring himself to go to sleep that night, despite his aching head screaming for rest and his backside screaming at him to take an aspirin and a sleeping pill and just get it over with already, damnit. Roxas's last statement still rang in his ears, and despite his skeptic attitude towards everything the blonde man said he could do, the redhead was terrified for some reason.

"Idiot," he muttered after he double-checked his closet, under his bed, and every other place that anything strange could be hiding. "None of that shit's real. None at all. Just go to sleep. It's almost fucking midnight, and you've got work tomorrow."

The redhead gauged the distance between his bed and his nightstand carefully before turning off his lamp and diving headlong for the safety of his covers, landing face-first in them with a muffled grunt. He chided himself inwardly for being so easily scared and slid under the sheets, settling himself after a few moments. He stared into the blackness above his head for what seemed like ages until his eyelids began to droop of their own accord.

Axel's eyes snapped open again as something rustled across the room. Cold fingers of dread raked themselves down his back, making him shiver. He sat up, only to look down and see that his body was still motionless, eyes closed in peaceful slumber. The redhead tried to scream at his body to wake up, there was something in the room with him, but no response was forthcoming.

A low growl emanated from the darkness near the far wall of the bedroom. A pair of glowing red eyes blinked open and locked onto Axel's, causing him to freeze in terror. A hideous creature stepped forwards into the shafts of moonlight streaming through the blinds on the window. Its oily black fur was matted and unkempt, marred by numerous scratches and what looked like open wounds still oozing blood. One of its ears was in shreds, and a long scar ran from the base of the tattered ear to the tip of the enormous wolf's muzzle, the pink flesh contrasting sharply with the black fur. It growled again, baring six-inch fangs in a grotesque, feral grin.

Shit, shit, shit, this thing is gonna kill me. Axel could barely think straight anymore, watching helplessly as the nightmare creature padded closer to his prone form, still lying asleep in bed. The black wolf paused when it reached the side of the bed where the redhead's body was, tilting its head back to meet Axel's eyes.

"Do you believe me now?"

Axel screamed as the thing pounced, and promptly rolled out of bed and slammed his head into the floor. He lay there for a few moments, heart pounding, trying desperately to even out his breathing. That thing had spoken to him in Roxas's voice. Maybe the blonde wasn't just being overly dramatic… Axel shook his head. Who was he kidding? One nightmare did not equate to some guy he barely even knew having paranormal powers… did it?

"Um, Axel… Are you okay?" The redheaded man looked up to see a very confused Demyx standing over him.

"Demyx. Nightmare. I'm okay," Axel gasped for breath as he sat up, massaging the spot on his head where it collided with the floor. "How… How did you get in here?"

Demyx helped him stand up and sit down on the edge of his bed. "I found the extra key to this place you gave me a few months ago in one of my shoes. I heard you screaming your head off, and I came running, just like any best friend would do. What was your nightmare about?"

Axel, who previously slumped forwards with his face in his hands, sat straight up. "Shit. Roxas. One second, Demyx, I've gotta call someone."

The redhead walked over to the phone and picked it up so he could dial in Roxas's number. The blonde man answered on the third ring this time. "What do you want, Axel?" he sounded like he had been rudely awakened.

"I… I believe you now," the redhead whimpered, recalling the image of the horrific creature from his nightmare. "When are we gonna see each other today?"

"Hmm. I knew you'd see things my way before long," the other man purred. "Come to the skate park after you get off work. I'll be waiting." The call ended, leaving Axel staring at the phone in his hand in utter astonishment.

Demyx came over to him. "Hey, you sure you're okay? You look like you just saw a ghost or something, man."

"Oh, you have no idea, Demyx. No idea."

Four hours, a shower, and a large breakfast later saw Axel running helter-skelter down the streets of New York, desperate to get to his brother's bar, the White Rabbit, on time. Mere moments before his shift began, the redheaded man barreled in through the doorway, scaring the living daylights out of a few customers seated nearby.

"Axel, you're late," Another redheaded man standing behind the counter said coldly as he cleaned a wineglass.

"I am not," Axel replied, stalking over to the counter. He pointed to the clock hanging on the wall behind his brother's back. "Look, I still have ten whole seconds to spare!"

Reno looked up at him, blue eyes sparkling with amusement, although he managed to keep a straight face. "Not by my watch. Says here you're three whole minutes late. You know what that means…"

"Oh, no, anything but that!" Axel cowered as his brother grinned menacingly at him over the counter. "Please! I won't be late again for a month!"

"Sorry, bro, somebody's gotta do it."

A very pissed-off Axel spent the next two hours cleaning the bathrooms and washing the dishes of the small bar. He spent much of the time muttering dire threats under his breath as to what terrible fates might befall his brother Reno if he ever did this to him again, although he knew that he could never pull off any of them without serious consequences. After all, it was illegal to murder someone and then provoke a herd of bison to stampede over the corpse.

Finally, Axel managed to finish the jobs he had been saddled with and reported back to Reno, wondering if he would ever get the stench of ammonia out of his clothes. "Ah, that took much less time than I thought it would. Good work. Go see if the kitchen staff needs any help. Oh, and send Rude out here to me. I need to talk to him."

Axel nodded and went to obey his boss's orders, choking back a small snigger as he did so. Bro, you really need to get laid if you're this cranky. There were rumors amongst the staff that Reno and Rude were involved as more than just business partners, but no one ever talked about it within earshot of them for fear of one of the two men either firing them or beating them to a bloody pulp.

The redhead spotted Rude as soon as he entered the kitchen. "Yo, Rude! Reno wants to talk to you."

Rude turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised. "What, did he set something on fire again?"

"Ah, no, not this time," Axel smirked, recalling that particular accident a few weeks earlier. "He just said he wants to talk to you. I dunno why."

Rude, still looking mildly surprised, nodded and walked past Axel and out of the kitchen. The redhead sniggered at the thought of what his brother might be asking.

"Axel," a quiet voice called from behind a rack of pots a few feet away as the redhead walked further into the kitchen, "will you please come here? I need your help with something."

"Sure, Aerith, what's up?" he walked over to stand beside the woman who called out to him.

Aerith smiled sweetly, wiping sweat off of her brow. "I need you to go and get some things out of the pantry for me. I can't leave the stove right now or this food will boil over. Do you mind?"

The redhead grinned back at her. "Of course not. What do you need?" The brunette woman listed off the ingredients she required, and then Axel walked through the room to the storage area in the back. He was happy to do a small favor or two for Aerith because she acted as a sort of mother figure for him and many of his friends, whereas he despised his brother for making him do everything and anything he asked.

"Thank you, dear," Aerith said gratefully as Axel set down the items she had requested on the counter next to her and the pot that was boiling away in front of her. "I don't think anyone else needs any help in here, so you can go back and tell your brother to stop bossing you around for once."

"How'd you know I was being bullied again?" Axel asked sarcastically, giving her a small wave as he re-entered the main room of the bar. Reno looked mildly surprised when he walked up. "Before you ask, only Aerith needed anything. Also, she said to stop being a dick and bullying me around, although in… much nicer words."

Reno snorted and said, "Fine. I guess you can go wait tables, then. Just don't spill anything if you value your manhood."

The younger redhead gulped and glanced down at his crotch. "Uh… Okay, boss, no spills, go wait tables. Got it!" He ran off to get a pen and a pad of paper, Reno's chuckles ringing in his ears.

Axel was relieved when his shift finally ended and his brother let him go. The redhead checked his watch, wondering if he had time to go take a shower before he met up with Roxas. Deciding that the blonde would probably already know that he smelled like ammonia and other cleaning supplies, he continued on to the skate park, hoping the exhaust fumes from the countless cars on the roads would cover it.

Roxas was waiting for him in the same spot as the day before. However, his friends were no where in sight. The blonde had his back to Axel as he walked up, but still greeted him before the redhead was able to say anything. "Right on time."

"You really need to stop doing that. It creeps me out," Axel replied, climbing the ladder to reach the top of the ramp where the blonde man was standing.

The numerous pieces of jewelry adorning Roxas's body tinkled as he turned to face him, his lips curled in his little half-smile. "You'd better get used to it. I get the feeling you're gonna be around for a long time."

"Are you psychic or something?" Axel asked as he sat down on the edge of the platform.

Roxas sat beside him, grinning. "I guess you could say that. I get help from my ouija board and stuff like that, but yes, to some extent, I guess you could say I am."

"Great. I'm hanging out with a guy who has psychic powers, knows more about me than I do, and seems to have a thing for being creepy as hell," When Axel saw Roxas's eyes narrow, he realized that he had said it out loud instead of just thinking it. "Shit. Sorry. I can't control my stupid mouth sometimes."

"Hmph. I guess I understand. Hayner's like that a lot, until Olette beats some sense into him," Roxas said, gazing up at the cloudless blue sky. "So, I'd like to know why you decided that you believe me. You sounded like you were about to piss your pants when you called this morning."

Axel stared at him in surprise. "You don't know? I thought you sent me that nightmare or something."

"Nightmare?" Roxas looked up sharply. "Wait a second, what was it about?"

The redheaded man was startled by this reaction. "Um… well, I went to sleep, and then I sorta sat up and… I could see myself, only I was still me… I dunno. Anways, there was this noise from the dark side of my room, and this… thing came out and attacked me, but I woke up before it could do anything."

The look on Roxas's face told him that there was something much more serious underlying the nightmare itself. The blonde pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on one of them, deep in thought. After a few moments, he said, "I knew it. Your - or your friend's apartment - is haunted. And not by the good kind of spirit, either."

"Wait a sec, you mean that monster is living in my apartment?" Axel stared at the blonde man in dismay as he nodded solemnly. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me. How come I never noticed before? Don't ghosts do all sorts of weird shit to get people to go away?"

"Depends on the ghost. Some of them are okay with sharing spaces, some aren't, and some want you for your body."

Axel blinked. "Say what?"

Roxas realized how weird that must have sounded, so he clarified. "Some malevolent spirits, such as demons, will haunt a particular place looking for a host body to possess. Fortunately, I've never seen this happen in person, but I have heard stories about it. It can be a very nasty business to get rid of them."

A cold feeling of dread was beginning to pool in the pit of Axel's stomach. "Am I gonna have to move, then? And I don't want to leave Demyx there if this thing could get him instead of me."

Roxas thought for a moment. "No. Give me a little while to do some research and figure out how to get whatever's living in your apartment gone. As long as nothing changes drastically with the state of mind it's in between now and when I get a solution, we should be fine."

Axel sighed and buried his face in his hands. "I hope to hell that you find some way to make it go away. I don't think I can take another nightmare like that."

Roxas grimaced. "Believe me, I hope I can, too."

~::~

Author's Note: Before I forget, I've decided to try and stick to a regular update schdule of a chapter every Wednesday and Sunday, provided that nothing prevents me from finishing. Life does have a tendency to get in the way sometimes, but I'll do my best to be on time! Reviews are amazing, by the way.