Fake Fan Fiction ❯ Learning to Love ❯ Protection ( Chapter 5 )

Legal Disclaimer - I still don't own FAKE. And I'm sure a lot of people are probably very happy about that.

Chapter 5 - Protection

Berkley led the rest of the group into the forest down an icy path, all of them having to shield their faces from the prickly branches of pine trees. The snow crunched beneath their feet and the creaking of the trees moving in the soft wind were the only sounds heard. No birds chirped from their high homes; all had migrated. No bears trudged through the brush searching for food; all were in a state of deep hibernation. Neither a rabbit nor a deer crossed their path. It was a deathly frightening silence.

Diana moved another branch out of the way of her face. Once she passed, she released it, letting it fly back to hit Martin square in the face which made him fall backwards on to Clyde.

"Oi, `ou big ol' lug! Get off `o me!" Clyde barked.

"Ou! Me eye!" Martin cried, rubbing the right side of his face.

Diana rolled her eyes and turned around to follow Berkley, but ended up running into his back, causing her to also fall down on the two, still-arguing men.

"Oi, may'e this ain't so bad a'ter all, `ey `yde?" Martin said, forgetting about his injured eye.

"Oh, `eah!" Clyde agreed, reaching around to squeeze Diana's ass; she smacked him before he could get there.

"Perverts," she muttered, standing up.

Diana walked over to Berkley, who was kneeling down on one knee, looking at something in his hand.

"What did you find?" Diana asked; Berkley held it up.

The item was another shell from a shotgun.

"He obviously brought some ammunition with him. Judging by the four we found by the shed and this one here. There should be another one around here somewhere…" Berkley said.

He stood; Martin and Clyde as well. Berkley closed his eyes and listened carefully. In all his years, there was nothing he couldn't track and hunt down.

"Oi, what're we doin' juss standin' `ere?" Martin asked.

The wind changed direction; a horrible smell drifted over them. Diana started to gag. It smelt like…death.

"We should go in that direction," Berkley said, pointing east.

The group headed the way that he pointed his finger, trudging through the snow in silence. Diana, Martin, and Clyde all hand their hands covering their faces, trying to keep the horrible smell from invading their nostrils again.

They came to a small clearing. Berkley looked around for something out of the ordinary. The wind ruffled the trees. It was silent until they could almost hear the forest whispering to them. Whispering of horrible things…of death and torture. It was telling them to get out. To get away from that place.

"Berkley, I want to go home," Diana murmured, feeling frightened.

The trees bent in the breeze, branches moving as if they were the limbs of some great monster. Shapes that formed between the trunks of the surrounding trees all seemed to move, as if there were people there, surrounding them. Keeping them there. Death was whispered again. Death was there. Ominous vibes pulsed from every direction.

"Oi, Berks. May'e we should `e a headin' back abo't now…" Clyde suggested, feeling very creeped out.

Berkley walked forward, Diana clinging to his side. Another shell lay on the ground near the gun that was now covered in a light layer of frost. He kept walking; Martin and Clyde followed closely behind, afraid of being alone and looking so vulnerable in the middle of the clearing by themselves.

They looked near the gun and saw that there was a patch of snow that looked pinkish. With his foot, Berkley scraped the top layer of snow away from the spot revealing a large frozen puddle of crimson.

"Oi…is that…" Martin began.

"Blood," Berkley answered nonchalantly.

"Berkley, let's seriously get out of here," Diana whimpered from his side.

Berkley paused for a moment and looked near the puddle and saw what appeared to be…

"Is that…" Clyde started to say, moving over towards the object.

He kicked it quickly with the tip of his boot, afraid that maybe it would spring back to life and bite him in the ass. They looked at it for a moment: it was the leg of a goat, ripped at the thigh.

"What do you think, Berkley? Wolf?" Diana asked, looking at the limb.

She looked back at him and saw that his gaze was focused upwards.

"I don't think we're dealing with a wolf," Berkley said.

"An' why don't `ou `ink that?" Clyde mocked, trying to mask his anxiety.

"Can a wolf possibly be responsible for that?" Berkley asked; his face still tilted towards the sky.

They looked up to the trees and saw the figure of the goat, mutilated beyond belief, it's eyes ripped out, it's guts strung up on neighboring branches as if the sick fiend who did it was decorating a Christmas tree. Flies buzzed around the corpse, feeding off the goat's insides. Diana pulled her gaze away from the grotesque form before she threw up.

And she could have sworn that for a brief second, she saw a pair of cerulean eyes peering at them from within the depths of the jungle. But the minute she blinked, they were gone.

-0-

Dee sat in his study, resting in a large chair before the roaring fire. By his feet lay his faithful companion. He sighed; golden eyes peered up at him. Dee scratched behind the wolf's ears for a moment before going back to his deep state of thinking. The sound of the heavy wooden door to the room opening distracted him from his task. He looked up, those unearthly green eyes glaring with a barely restrained fury at the person who had interrupted his thinking. He then realized that it was Mother.

"Yes, Mother. What is it?" Dee asked, leaning back into his chair.

"I've come to inform you that the boy is just fine," she said.

Dee sat there for a moment, almost forgetting who she was referring to. Mother however, was wondering why Dee was acting so strange. A couple of hours ago, she couldn't even get Dee to stop pacing about the upstairs corridor and now it was if he didn't even know what in good heavens she was talking about.

"I wish to see him," Dee said and stood.

He then walked swiftly out of the room with the wolf at his heels, leaving Mother very confused and somewhat heartbroken for her "son."

-)-

Dee sat down next to the bed and looked down at Ryo. The way that the moon shone down on him through the window and the dim light from the nearby lamp made his features a mix of pale blue and a warm orange. But he could tell that Ryo's true color was betrayed by that light; that he was really as deathly pale as when Dee had held him in his arms earlier that day.

He sighed and put his hand on Ryo's forehead, stroking his bangs away from his feverish face. Ryo breathed in deeply and his head turned towards Dee. Those long eyelashes fluttered for a moment and a small, yet weak smile tugged at Ryo's pink lips. Dee reached forward and touched a finger to Ryo's bottom lip, running his claw gently over the soft flesh there. He then felt the whisper of Ryo's breath as he sighed Dee's name; it was like a gentle caress of warm water that spread over Dee's head and washed down to his toes, making him feel content and not so worried.

But he looked over Ryo once more, removing his hand from Ryo's lips. He noticed that Ryo's left hand was bandaged and (from the looks of it) still bleeding. Dee felt himself scowl. A dark look must have come over his face at that moment. An inner loathing. Hatred.

"Why…why are you doing this? Why are you hurting him like this? Why…?" Dee wondered aloud.

And from somewhere in either the depths of his own mind or maybe even within the forming shadows of the room, he heard the answer whispered softly:

"Revenge…"

))-

Ryo awoke to the sound of someone whispering softly into his right ear. He turned his head towards the sound only to be met with silence. Then it was as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on him, the feeling rushing from his head down to his feet. That someone whispered to Ryo again; he could not make out the words. Icy hands grasped his wrists, holding them in a pincer-like grip. He struggled against them.

A face appeared just inches away from his own. The same pair of icy blue eyes gazed back at him from a mask of ashen flesh. Those lips curled into a sneer, the grip on his wrists became tighter. The man leaned forward until their noses were touching.

"Soon…" he whispered eerily.

Almond eyes widened.

"What?" Ryo asked uncertainly.

A sinister grin appeared on that deathly pale face once more.

"Soon…" he repeated.

Steel blue eyes fluttered closed and those cold lips placed an icy kiss on to Ryo's forehead. Ryo felt himself begin to slip into unconsciousness.

"Yes…sleep…sleep deeply until the first night of the full moon," he whispered softly.

"What…what happens…then…?" Ryo inquired, trying not to fall prey to this sorcerer's spell.

Another cold smile, those eyes glinting with something malicious.

"You will see…be patient until then child…"

And then he was gone. The presence disappeared. Nothing was there except the shadows that danced about the room with the light of the candle. Darkness and light coexisting. Melding together to create one entity. For every birth, there must be a death just as there must be a day and a night.

=)-

When Ryo awoke from his nightmarish state, he realized it was morning and that he was no longer shrouded in darkness, but bathed in light from the sun outside. He watched as snow fluttered past his window. It was another glorious day. A wonderful day that no one could taint. He felt the tug of a smile at his lips as he watched the gentle hand of winter spread her grace upon the land.

"Why are you smiling? You didn't hit your head, did you?" asked a somewhat ruffled voice.

Ryo turned his head to the side and his eyes landed upon a blurry figure near his bedside. He blinked a couple of times until the person came into focus. Emerald green eyes were studying him intently from beneath a curtain of disheveled bangs. Ryo felt himself flush slightly from beneath that piercing gaze. Those eyes were so searching, so predatory.

"I'm okay," Ryo replied, turning his head to look back out the window.

"Then what's got you so transfixed on that window over there?" Dee wondered, sounding annoyed.

"It's snowing," Ryo answered, as if it were the most obvious thing.

"I have eyes too you know," Dee informed him.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Ryo asked, more to himself than Dee.

Dee looked out the window and watched as the flakes of snow fluttered in the breeze, as if a delicate hand were guiding them gently down to earth. He looked over at Ryo and saw that there was a serene smile on his lips; a warm glow surrounded him.

"My mother loved snow," Ryo said.

Dee didn't know what to say.

"She told me that every passing day was a gift. That each day was just like a snowflake: different, yet still unbelievingly perfect in everyway. It just depended on how you looked at it. And that every snowflake was different, just as people are different. Yet we are still all the same, though some of us may not look perfect. We all are perfect. We all start out perfect, pure. It just depends on how we look at life. How we deal with life. How we spend each passing day. Whether we greeted the day with open arms or a sheltered heart…She wanted me to live life to the fullest…because she knew that she never could. So, whenever I see snow…I take a minute to think about her. And I know that when it snows, she's watching me from wherever she is in the next world just to make sure that I'm still loving life," Ryo said airily.

"All that when you see snow?" Dee asked, after a moment of considerable concentration.

Ryo nodded.

"But someone tainted that now," Ryo replied, somewhat bitterly.

Dee was caught off guard by the sudden change in his tone.

"What do you mean?" Dee wondered.

Ryo shook his head, his light mood returning once more.

"Nothing. I want to go outside today," Ryo said, removing his gaze from the window.

Dee felt a chill run down his back. Those eyes were hollow, unseeing. They did not belong to Ryo. But when Dee looked back at him, those eyes had changed again. They were a beautiful chocolate brown once more, not the murky-blackish color that they had been moments before.

"Um…maybe you should eat something first. You've been asleep for almost three days," Dee suggested, feeling almost frightened of seeing that deathly stare again.

"Three days?" Ryo repeated, incredulously; Dee nodded.

"Yes, three days. I wish for you to eat before doing anything else. Spend the rest of the day as you wish. But tonight, you will come to my study and tell me exactly what happened," Dee said as he stood.

"Er…okay, um…Sir," Ryo replied uncertainly, not used to being ordered around so much.

"And one more thing," Dee added, as he was nearing the door.

Ryo nodded.

"Tsuki will be keeping an eye on you for I cannot spend every waking moment by your side," Dee said, sounding somewhat bored.

Ryo flinched somewhat at the tone. A couple days ago, Dee had been so caring and gentle. Now it was if he were putting distance between them. Ryo frowned slightly, but got a grip on himself. It wasn't as if he liked Dee always being around him. No. He definitely liked being away from Dee for a while. Since when did he become so dependant on those beautiful green eyes or that gorgeous mop of raven hair or…

"Tsuki?" Ryo repeated, looking around.

A great wolf jumped up on the bed, its golden eyes almost as piercing as its master's. Ryo was surprised by the size of the animal, but the wolf won him over almost immediately when it sat down by his side and rested its head in Ryo's lap. Ryo scratched behind Tsuki's ears, making the wolf sigh in content.

"Yes. Tsuki will be your protection from this day on," Dee said before vanishing out door, not even saying a departing word to either of them.

"Protection?" Ryo wondered aloud, looking down at the great hound on his lap.

He continued to pet the animal as he thought, looking around the room as if he were seeing it through a new pair of eyes.

"How stupid. Why would I need protection anyways? And from what? The closet monsters and the boogiemen?" Ryo continued, laughing slightly despite of himself.

All of a sudden, a dark aura floated into the room. The fire in the hearth blew out and the room became instantly cold. Tsuki began to growl from Ryo's lap, her hair standing on end. Ryo looked around the room again; Tsuki got up and began to flash her teeth when she snarled. Ryo followed Tsuki's gaze and looked over at the dresser mirror.

"There's…there's nothing there, Tsuki. Calm yourself now," Ryo said, though his voice was a little bit shaky.

The wolf eventually stopped her growling, but would not return to the spot on Ryo's lap.

"Both you and your master worry too much. What are you going to protect me from anyways? The wind?" Ryo asked, forcing himself to laugh.

But Ryo stopped in mid-laugh when he felt two hands grab his shoulders and a frightening voice whisper into his ear:

"No. From me…"

*-)

After Talk with the Random Queen:

Okay then. This whole chapter gave me the creeps. I'm seriously thinking about changing the genre to Horror because this is just making me wig out. Yeah…well, at least I updated right? I know, I know. It took me long enough, right?

Yeah, well. This story is coming to an end faster than I'd like. But I've really got to get rolling on this story quickly before I lose more motivation. Yes, I know I'm totally straying from where I was going with this fic (or am I?) but it's coming out pretty good, don't you think?

About the Characters………………..

Yes, Ryo is in for more abuse. I'm sorry. Yes. I know I'm evil. But it's so much funner this way. And just to let you know, the way I was going to bring Bikky and Carol into this story may not happen, but it might later in the next chapter…I'm not sure yet. Um…yeah, I know that there's this whole thing with Berkley wanting Ryo back, but that might come into play during either the next chapter or the one after that. I'm not sure yet. It just depends. Because remember, Ryo's been asleep for three days. What's happened during that time period and why is Dee acting so weird? You'll see….

Oh, and I know people are prolly wondering about the wolf. Well, for all you non-I-don't-wanna-learn-Japanese-people out there, the name of the wolf means "moon" and the reason I brought in the dog is for many different purposes. First of all, dogs are more sensitive to paranormal activity than humans are. That means that the wolf will sense the unsettling danger in the air quicker than a human would. It will all come into play later in the story. Also, I brought the dog into the story because I want to show a transformation. The dog has been Dee's pet, prolly cold and uniform. Then, it spends time with Ryo, where he and the dog have this connection and the dog becomes more like a puppy again, free-spirited and loving once more. This will be in parallel with the healing that Ryo is doing on to Dee's own cold heart.

Parting Words and the Bribe:

Alrighty people, you remember the drill. Leave a nice review and you'll get a nicer, longer chapter very soon. But if I get close to nada again, I'm just gonna push this story off. Updating it in a couple months or something. So you people make the decision. Know that all flames will be used to burn love letters from ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends in my backyard. All good reviewers will get (as said before) a longer chapter sooner, and some really really good chocolate chip muffin things that I made. They're really good -waves them at reviewers tauntingly- Leeeeaaavvveeee aaaaa rrrrrreeeevvvviiiieeeewwwww……!!!

Okay, I'm done begging.

Thanks for reading and see you soon (if you review….)

~The Random Queen