Sofia-NOT-the-first requested: Stalker AU with Alan please!
"Mail's here!" Virgil called as he dumped the bag on the floor of the living room.
Whilst he was on the mainland, Virgil had swung by their PO Box to pick up their mail from the past few weeks. It was one downfall to living in the middle of the ocean; no one wanted to come deliver mail out here.
Alan got up from where he had been playing a game on the couch to help his brother sort through the pile. He was expecting a couple of parcels with things he had ordered, so he was eager to see if they'd come.
As word got out across the island that Virgil had arrived with the mail, more family members started to appear to see if there was anything there for them. Mail days were almost like Christmas with how they all crowded around, eagerly searching for their pile of presents and tearing into various envelopes and boxes.
It didn't take them long to sort through all the parcels, and as they reached the end of the pile, everyone started to retreat back to where they'd come from with all their gifts in tow.
"Hey, Al. This one's for you."
Alan looked over to Scott with a raised brow as his brother sorted through the last remaining pieces of mail. He wasn't expecting anything else; he had already received his parcels he was waiting for.
He took the red envelope that Scott was handing out to him and he looked down at the writing on it.
His heart plummeted. The handwriting was unmistakable.
He'd received enough of these at this point to instantly recognise it.
He hesitantly opened the envelope, afraid of what would be in it this time.
It was a card, some generic thank you card that wasn't anything special. Alan slowly opened it, and found taped to the middle of it a polaroid. It was a photo of him on a rescue, which Alan was sure was only from last week. There was no writing in the card, only the photo.
The worst part about it was how Alan's face had been scratched out. He could only recognise it was him from the uniform.
"What is it?" Scott asked, and Alan whipped his head up to find his brother had been watching him.
"Just fanmail." Alan plastered on a smile as he tucked the card back into the envelope, hoping no one noticed how his hands were shaking.
He felt sick. He needed to get out of there before anyone realised something was up.
"Well, if that's all the mail for me, I'm gonna head up to my room." Alan could already feel his smile cracking, so he didn't wait for a reply as he picked up the rest of his mail and fled the room.
Alan dumped his parcels on his bed, but kept that one red envelope in his hands. He crouched down next to the bed, and sent a glance towards the door to check no one was coming. When he knew the coast was clear, he reached under the bed and pulled out the large box.
He lifted the lid, revealing the collection of similar looking envelopes, all containing cards with photos tucked inside. The photos were never the same. They were mostly of him on rescues, but sometimes they were of his brothers. Some had the eyes scratched out, some the faces. Some of them were even cut up or torn.
There were never any words written, aside from what was on the envelopes. Alan had no idea where these were coming from, what this person wanted, or what message they were trying to send. He only knew that it couldn't be anything good, and he was beyond the point of hoping they would just stop.
However, he couldn't tell anyone else what was happening, so he placed the new envelope on top of the pile, placed the lid back on the box, and shoved the box back under his bed for no one else to see. It was inevitable that he would be opening this box again to put a new piece of mail in it, but for now his secret would stay hidden.