Together Forever
Title: Together Forever
Author: ...duh
Words: 3281
Theme: Horror Fantasy
Pairing(s)/Characters: Russia and America
Summary: Ivan moves in with Alfred as his roommate, but he wants Alfred to become something more.
...so this story also probably sucks because I am horrible at horror and anything scary, but I already missed two themes to a house guest, so I wasn't gonna let this one get away.
Alfred hurried down the hall at a brisk jog, his nostrils flaring as he glanced back over his shoulder, his ears straining to hear over the sounds of his own breath and footsteps. He ducked around a corner and broke into a jog, heading for the window at the end of the short hall, the moon casting its dim blue light over everything.
~
Alfred opened his door with a smile on his face and looked up at the tall man outside, his ash brown hair partially covering his eyes. “Yeah? Can I help you, mister?”
The other man smiled back and held out one hand. “Yes. I am being called Ivan. I have come to answer your advertisement. You still want roommate, yes?”
“...I guess so, yeah,” Alfred answered after a few seconds’ pause. “You have to pay half the rent and utilities and shit. Got the money for that?”
Ivan smiled and shoved a paper bag into the blonde man’s hand. “This should be enough. You can count if you want.”
Alfred glared at him suspiciously as he uncrumpled the top of the bag and peeked inside at the large stack of bills. He looked back up at the large man and took a step back from the door. “...you can sit at the table while I count this,” he offered as he sat down on one of the chairs in his small kitchenette.
Ivan kept smiling and took the seat opposite Alfred as the other man upended the bag and dumped the bills onto the table, counting them quickly as he sorted them into piles. He raised an eyebrow at the large man once he had finished. “There’s enough here for two months. All in small bills. Is there anything I should know about you, Mr. Ivan?”
Ivan smiled innocently and clasped his hands in front of him. “I just wish to escape the winter, Mr. Jones. This is just how your banks convert my money. There is a problem?”
Alfred looked at the piles of money again, then slowly collected them back into the bag. “No... No, that should cover it. There’s no smoking in here. No drunken rampages, or else you’re paying damages and explaining it to the landlady. Your room is the second one on the right. The bathroom is the first one on the right. Stay out of my room.”
Ivan nodded and stood up, tugging his shirt smooth. “Will I have keys?”
Alfred nodded absently, clenching the top of the paper bag. “Yeah. Just give me a couple hours to find where they went. Oh yeah. No drugs or anything, either.”
Ivan smiled down at the young blond. “Understood. I will be in my room when you find the keys.” With that, he walked past the bewildered young man and let himself into the sparsely furnished bedroom, closing the door behind himself as he laid on the bed.
Alfred stared down at the small bag ang frowned. “Weird...” he muttered to himself, then shrugged and took a deposit slip from his desk, filling it out.
~
Alfred reached the window and grabbed the emergency release handle, popping the glass out of the frame before climbing out onto the fire escape. He turned to stare back down the dark hallway, thinking he heard quiet snuffling. When he didn’t see anything different, he looked at the narrow stairs in front of them and swung around the end to run down the metal steps, his feet clattering loudly on the metal mesh.
~
Alfred looked up from his dinner as the front door opened, then turned back to the microwaved meal when he saw Ivan walk in and shut the door behind him. He grunted a greeting as the taller man sat across from him and set a paper bag on the table between them.
The young blond raised one eyebrow and stared at the paper bag. “What’s that? You already paid for two months. You don’t have to pay again, yet.”
Ivan rolled his eyes, but opened the bag and pulled out his supper, carefully arranging the warm cardboard boxes in front of him. “Not every paper bag in my possession is for money, Alfred,” he replied, opening one of the boxes and stirring the contents with his flimsy plastic fork.
Alfred stared at his own Styrofoam bowl, his cheeks tinted pink. “Sorry. But what else am I supposed to think when you go around with cash in a bag like that?”
The taller man paused with his full fork hovering over the box. “You could think that it would not fit in a wallet, so I needed a...better way to carry it,” he said before eating his food.
“Yeah. I guess so,” Alfred mumbled, stirring his food restlessly. “What do you do for work? I mean, it’s gotta be pretty good to have that kind of cash.”
Ivan shrugged and swallowed the food. “I do this and that. Ends and odds. I just had a good job and I saved some money for a better home. Is this problem?”
Alfred shook his head and slurped down another mouthful of food. “Nah. I was just curious. I thought the only people who made that kind of money were doing stuff like...I dunno...drugs or pimping or smuggling or something.”
Ivan smiled coldly and hauled another forkful out of his takeout container. “It is not so interesting as those. I simply help people with problems they have. Moving things, making things. Ends and odds.”
“Odds and ends,” Alfred said quietly as he watched the other man eat.
“Mm?” Ivan mumbled, his mouth full.
“You mean odds and ends. Not ends and odds.”
Ivan swallowed his food and smiled gratefully at the younger man. “Ah. Yes. Odds and ends. Thank you. I am...not English-speaking.”
Alfred chuckled and prodded his food again. “Yeah. I could tell. If you need help, just ask.”
“Thank you, Alfred.”
~
Alfred paused as he thought he heard another clatter on the metal stairs. He craned his neck back and saw the fleshy feet pressed against the metal grating, then hurried down the last of the stairs to the ladder.
He heard the figure above him slowly make its way down the stairs. “Won’t you come with me?” came the voice from above, drifting down to him as he slid the ladder down and swung onto it, climbing down the short length and dropping heavily on the ground. He took off at a run as soon as his feet touched the ground.
~
Ivan sat down across from Alfred with his cereal in hand, only to find the other man staring intently at the small screen in one hand. He stared down into his bowl as he ate slowly.
Alfred finally looked up from the screen and blinked in surprise. “When did you get here? I didn’t hear you come in.”
Ivan shrugged and stirred the contents of his bowl. “A short while ago. What is so...captivating about that...device?”
Alfred looked back down at his iPad and set it flat on the table. “I was just reading the news,” he said, sliding it over to the other man. “Look at that. It says they just found the body a couple hours ago, poor guy.”
Ivan spun the screen around do the type was facing the right way and scanned the screen. “Teen Boy Mauled in Park?” he read out loud. “How do they know he was mauled?” he asked after quickly reading over the rest of the article.
Alfred shrugged, his toast still hanging from one hand. “I dunno. I guess they do some kind of sciencey analyzey stuff and they just know. That’s what it always looks like on TV, anyways.”
Ivan looked up at Alfred, the young man’s cheeks now stuffed with toast as he chewed furiously. “I don’t think it works like that,” he said, watching as Alfred chased the toast down with the last of his coffee.
Alfred burped loudly and stood up, grabbing his messenger bag from the back of the chair. “Well, I have to get going. You can play around with that for a while if you want. Just be careful out there. You don’t want to get mauled by a monster, too.”
“I’m sure it was not a monster,” Ivan said quietly as he stared at the glowing screen. “And if it was busy mauling people last night, I am sure it is sleeping now. I am in no danger.”
Alfred paused in the doorway and shot the other man a worried frown. “Yeah well...still be careful,” he said before walking out, the door swinging shut behind him.
Ivan stared at the story on the screen for a few more moments before he flipped the device over, screen against the wooden table, and finished his breakfast.
~
Alfred slowed to a stop just outside the maze of alleys and leaned against a brick building, pressing his hand to his side as he struggled to get his breath back.
“I don’t know why you run,” came the eerily sweet voice from inside the alley, growing louder and clearer as its owner approached. “I just want to help you...”
“I don’t need your help!” Alfred cried breathlessly, then shoved himself back upright and took off at a high-speed stagger.
~
Alfred paced in front of the apartment door nervously. “Are you sure you don’t want any help? I could walk you to work if you want.”
Ivan rolled his eyes as he stacked his breakfast dishes next to the sink. “I do not need your help. There is nothing to even worry about.”
“But...all the attacks are getting closer and closer to us. It’s moving into our neighborhood!” Alfred stopped his pacing and shot a desperate look at the other man.
“And it is only attacking at night, so you are safe.” He slung his back over his shoulder and turned to fix the young blond with an icy lilac stare. “Unless you are planning to wander alone at night?”
Alfred shook his head, faltering under the intense gaze. “I just thought you might feel better about having someone to protect you...”
Ivan sighed, barely catching the slight tremble in the boy’s movements. “Very well,” he said quietly, moving to stand next to the shorter man. “On second thought, it may be good to have a protector.”
Alfred beamed and reached out to clap Ivan on the back. “That’s the spirit. Now all the monsters in the world couldn’t hurt us! Not even big, bloodthirsty, man-eating bears!”
Ivan stiffened under the young man’s hand. “Bears?”
“Are you afraid of bears? I told you we needed to stick together!” Alfred marched out of the apartment, dragging the larger man behind him. “I don’t want to get mauled and eaten by some crazy killer bear!”
Ivan hmpfed to himself quietly as he walked beside Alfred. “So they are saying it is bears?” he said quietly. Alfred just nodded silently as they walked past a public park.
As soon as they had passed, the young man opened his mouth again. “Yeah. Or just one bear. They think one got loose from a circus or something, because the zoo isn’t missing any. And they think it’s a big bear. A huge one.”
“I wonder how they know all this...” Ivan mused to himself.
“Probably the same reason they knew that first kid was mauled. There’s gotta be like...clues there that they can find like that!” He snapped his fingers in the taller man’s face.
Ivan pressed his lips into thin lines and walked the rest of the way in silence.
~
Alfred panted as he stumbled along the sidewalk, looking back over his shoulder every few minutes, looking for his pursuer. When almost half an hour went by with no signs of continued pursuit, he stopped and collapsed onto a bus stop bench, bent double as he gasped for breath and waited for his heart to stop pounding.
~
Alfred came back from work one day to find the apartment completely dark, everything switched off and, in some cases, unplugged, leaving the main room completely devoid of light. “Ivan?” he called as he reached out and flipped the light switch by the door.
He looked around the room and carefully stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. “Are you here, Ivan?” he said, looking at the furniture that just didn’t seem right, like it had been moved. “Ivan, are you okay?”
He slowly made his way back to the bedrooms, pulling his keys out of his pocket as he went. He checked his own room first, heaving a sigh of relief when everything was untouched. He quickly shut the door again and turned to knock on Ivan’s door.
When there was no answer, Alfred picked out his copy of Ivan’s key with trembling fingers and slid it into the lock. He turned it, barely hearing the tumblers click over the nervous pounding in his chest. He opened the door, only to be greeted by an even deeper darkness than the front room, with only a single flickering candle to light it.
He saw a shape move in the room, briefly obscuring the candle as shadows danced on the walls. “I-Ivan?” he said, his voice quiet and tight in his throat. After a moment, the flame flared up and separated, wavering in the darkness as more candles were lit.
The figure in the middle of the room picked up one of the candles and turned to face Alfred, the firelight flickering across his features. Alfred let out his breath and gave the other man a look of relief. “Ivan! Thank God! What are you doing in here? I was worried that something happened to you.”
The larger man gave one of his wide, guileless smiles. “Alfred. Perfect timing!” he said as he reached out to grab the young man’s hand. “I was just about to come find you.”
Alfred smiled wider, relaxing further. “Really? That’s good. I was just worried that someone broke in. Everything looks kinda...wrong out there.” He glanced back over his shoulder at the open door, then turned back in time to catch the glint of candlelight on the edge of a small knife.
He quickly jerked his hand back, cupping it with his other hand as he backed away from Ivan. “What the hell?” he snapped as his shoulder brushed against the door jamb.
Ivan unfolded into a standing position and followed Alfred forward, leaning close to the young man as he reached out to flip the light switch. “I just need a little bit more,” he whispered, the overhead light snapping on behind him, gleaming off the small glass jars scattered around the candles, each one almost half full with blood. “Just a little bit more and we can be together,” Ivan said, his smile still frozen on his face.
The larger man reached for Alfred again, his knife still resting loosely in his fist. Alfred backed away from Ivan, screamed once, then turned and ran for the front door. He slammed it behind him and locked it before leaning against the far wall to think.
He heard a soft, steady thumping noise on the other side of the door and reached into his pocket for his phone. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the ancient flip-top to start up again. He looked up at the sound of splintering wood and saw a large chunk of wood peel out of the door.
He tapped the edge of the phone nervously as it finished booting up, dialing 911 with shaking fingers until a loud crash made him look up. He almost dropped his phone as he saw the large bear nose shoved through the hole in the door.
He moved down the hall as he pressed the phone to his ear, panting as he watched the brown muzzle sniff the air. “911,” the voice on the other end of the line said. “What is your emergency?”
Alfred screamed as the door collapsed in a shower of large splinters and the large bear landed heavily on top of them. “Bears!” he yelled into the phone. “I’m being chased by a bear! Send help!”
The dispatcher started to ask another question, but Alfred screamed again, dropped his phone, and took off at a run as the bear lumbered towards him.
~
Alfred straightened up and looked around frantically as he heard a noise, but when Ivan or the bear completely failed to emerge, he relaxed again and took a deep breath. “I guess I finally lost him,” he said. “Though I think I lost myself, too...”
He looked at his surroundings again with a small grimace. “I probably don’t want to go home, but there has to be somewhere I can shack up for the night...” He just caught a flash of white in the corner of his eye before the scrap of fabric pressed up against his mouth and his vision blurred.
Ivan smiled and lifted the now-limp body over his shoulders with a soft grunt. “You shouldn’t talk to yourself, Alfred,” he said softly. “People might think you’re crazy.”
~
When Alfred woke up he felt pain marching through his head like an invading army, followed by a secondary sensation of cool breeze ruffling his hair. He groaned and opened his eyes, forcing them to focus on the ceiling as the rest of him came to. He rolled over on his side and looked at the room, recognizing it at Ivan’s room after some mental pummeling.
He rolled the rest of the way onto his stomach and crawled to the edge of the bed, looking at the now-empty glass jars. “...wha happened?” he asked, his voice still a bit slurred.
Ivan’s face hovered into his field of view, smiling happily. “You are better, now,” he said cheerfully. “Now no harm will come to you again.”
Alfred felt his heart race again as he saw the larger man in front of him and he backed away, getting up on his hands and knees to crawl back. “You! What do you think you’re doing!” he cried, pointing his finger at the candles and jars scattered around the floor. “Leave me alone!”
Ivan’s face fell a little as he watched Alfred move away. “But you are better, now. I have made you better.” He reached out to trace a stylized animal head on the young man’s hip, standing out against his skin in vivid blood red.
Alfred looked down at the mark, then grabbed the sheets and pulled them around his waist. “Stop that! What happened! Tell me what you did!”
Ivan sat on the end of the bed as Alfred pressed his back against the headboard. “I made you like me...” he whispered softly, then grinned as his face stretched and his body twisted. After a brief yet horrifying moment, the large bear sat on the end of the mattress.
Alfred sat on the bed for a moment, stunned into silence. Then he reached for the small knife on the bedside table, placed the blade against his throat and pulled. He smiled as his vision blacked out.
Ivan sat patiently on the end of the bed as his sheets turned deep red from the blood, waiting until the wound closed itself. He changed back to his human form after a few minutes and cleared most of the blood-soaked bedding away from the younger man before covering him with a blanket.
He smiled as he stroked the sticky blond hair. “I told you we could be together, now,” he whispered before pressing a kiss to the young man’s forehead. “Forever.”
Author: ...duh
Words: 3281
Theme: Horror Fantasy
Pairing(s)/Characters: Russia and America
Summary: Ivan moves in with Alfred as his roommate, but he wants Alfred to become something more.
...so this story also probably sucks because I am horrible at horror and anything scary, but I already missed two themes to a house guest, so I wasn't gonna let this one get away.
Alfred hurried down the hall at a brisk jog, his nostrils flaring as he glanced back over his shoulder, his ears straining to hear over the sounds of his own breath and footsteps. He ducked around a corner and broke into a jog, heading for the window at the end of the short hall, the moon casting its dim blue light over everything.
~
Alfred opened his door with a smile on his face and looked up at the tall man outside, his ash brown hair partially covering his eyes. “Yeah? Can I help you, mister?”
The other man smiled back and held out one hand. “Yes. I am being called Ivan. I have come to answer your advertisement. You still want roommate, yes?”
“...I guess so, yeah,” Alfred answered after a few seconds’ pause. “You have to pay half the rent and utilities and shit. Got the money for that?”
Ivan smiled and shoved a paper bag into the blonde man’s hand. “This should be enough. You can count if you want.”
Alfred glared at him suspiciously as he uncrumpled the top of the bag and peeked inside at the large stack of bills. He looked back up at the large man and took a step back from the door. “...you can sit at the table while I count this,” he offered as he sat down on one of the chairs in his small kitchenette.
Ivan kept smiling and took the seat opposite Alfred as the other man upended the bag and dumped the bills onto the table, counting them quickly as he sorted them into piles. He raised an eyebrow at the large man once he had finished. “There’s enough here for two months. All in small bills. Is there anything I should know about you, Mr. Ivan?”
Ivan smiled innocently and clasped his hands in front of him. “I just wish to escape the winter, Mr. Jones. This is just how your banks convert my money. There is a problem?”
Alfred looked at the piles of money again, then slowly collected them back into the bag. “No... No, that should cover it. There’s no smoking in here. No drunken rampages, or else you’re paying damages and explaining it to the landlady. Your room is the second one on the right. The bathroom is the first one on the right. Stay out of my room.”
Ivan nodded and stood up, tugging his shirt smooth. “Will I have keys?”
Alfred nodded absently, clenching the top of the paper bag. “Yeah. Just give me a couple hours to find where they went. Oh yeah. No drugs or anything, either.”
Ivan smiled down at the young blond. “Understood. I will be in my room when you find the keys.” With that, he walked past the bewildered young man and let himself into the sparsely furnished bedroom, closing the door behind himself as he laid on the bed.
Alfred stared down at the small bag ang frowned. “Weird...” he muttered to himself, then shrugged and took a deposit slip from his desk, filling it out.
~
Alfred reached the window and grabbed the emergency release handle, popping the glass out of the frame before climbing out onto the fire escape. He turned to stare back down the dark hallway, thinking he heard quiet snuffling. When he didn’t see anything different, he looked at the narrow stairs in front of them and swung around the end to run down the metal steps, his feet clattering loudly on the metal mesh.
~
Alfred looked up from his dinner as the front door opened, then turned back to the microwaved meal when he saw Ivan walk in and shut the door behind him. He grunted a greeting as the taller man sat across from him and set a paper bag on the table between them.
The young blond raised one eyebrow and stared at the paper bag. “What’s that? You already paid for two months. You don’t have to pay again, yet.”
Ivan rolled his eyes, but opened the bag and pulled out his supper, carefully arranging the warm cardboard boxes in front of him. “Not every paper bag in my possession is for money, Alfred,” he replied, opening one of the boxes and stirring the contents with his flimsy plastic fork.
Alfred stared at his own Styrofoam bowl, his cheeks tinted pink. “Sorry. But what else am I supposed to think when you go around with cash in a bag like that?”
The taller man paused with his full fork hovering over the box. “You could think that it would not fit in a wallet, so I needed a...better way to carry it,” he said before eating his food.
“Yeah. I guess so,” Alfred mumbled, stirring his food restlessly. “What do you do for work? I mean, it’s gotta be pretty good to have that kind of cash.”
Ivan shrugged and swallowed the food. “I do this and that. Ends and odds. I just had a good job and I saved some money for a better home. Is this problem?”
Alfred shook his head and slurped down another mouthful of food. “Nah. I was just curious. I thought the only people who made that kind of money were doing stuff like...I dunno...drugs or pimping or smuggling or something.”
Ivan smiled coldly and hauled another forkful out of his takeout container. “It is not so interesting as those. I simply help people with problems they have. Moving things, making things. Ends and odds.”
“Odds and ends,” Alfred said quietly as he watched the other man eat.
“Mm?” Ivan mumbled, his mouth full.
“You mean odds and ends. Not ends and odds.”
Ivan swallowed his food and smiled gratefully at the younger man. “Ah. Yes. Odds and ends. Thank you. I am...not English-speaking.”
Alfred chuckled and prodded his food again. “Yeah. I could tell. If you need help, just ask.”
“Thank you, Alfred.”
~
Alfred paused as he thought he heard another clatter on the metal stairs. He craned his neck back and saw the fleshy feet pressed against the metal grating, then hurried down the last of the stairs to the ladder.
He heard the figure above him slowly make its way down the stairs. “Won’t you come with me?” came the voice from above, drifting down to him as he slid the ladder down and swung onto it, climbing down the short length and dropping heavily on the ground. He took off at a run as soon as his feet touched the ground.
~
Ivan sat down across from Alfred with his cereal in hand, only to find the other man staring intently at the small screen in one hand. He stared down into his bowl as he ate slowly.
Alfred finally looked up from the screen and blinked in surprise. “When did you get here? I didn’t hear you come in.”
Ivan shrugged and stirred the contents of his bowl. “A short while ago. What is so...captivating about that...device?”
Alfred looked back down at his iPad and set it flat on the table. “I was just reading the news,” he said, sliding it over to the other man. “Look at that. It says they just found the body a couple hours ago, poor guy.”
Ivan spun the screen around do the type was facing the right way and scanned the screen. “Teen Boy Mauled in Park?” he read out loud. “How do they know he was mauled?” he asked after quickly reading over the rest of the article.
Alfred shrugged, his toast still hanging from one hand. “I dunno. I guess they do some kind of sciencey analyzey stuff and they just know. That’s what it always looks like on TV, anyways.”
Ivan looked up at Alfred, the young man’s cheeks now stuffed with toast as he chewed furiously. “I don’t think it works like that,” he said, watching as Alfred chased the toast down with the last of his coffee.
Alfred burped loudly and stood up, grabbing his messenger bag from the back of the chair. “Well, I have to get going. You can play around with that for a while if you want. Just be careful out there. You don’t want to get mauled by a monster, too.”
“I’m sure it was not a monster,” Ivan said quietly as he stared at the glowing screen. “And if it was busy mauling people last night, I am sure it is sleeping now. I am in no danger.”
Alfred paused in the doorway and shot the other man a worried frown. “Yeah well...still be careful,” he said before walking out, the door swinging shut behind him.
Ivan stared at the story on the screen for a few more moments before he flipped the device over, screen against the wooden table, and finished his breakfast.
~
Alfred slowed to a stop just outside the maze of alleys and leaned against a brick building, pressing his hand to his side as he struggled to get his breath back.
“I don’t know why you run,” came the eerily sweet voice from inside the alley, growing louder and clearer as its owner approached. “I just want to help you...”
“I don’t need your help!” Alfred cried breathlessly, then shoved himself back upright and took off at a high-speed stagger.
~
Alfred paced in front of the apartment door nervously. “Are you sure you don’t want any help? I could walk you to work if you want.”
Ivan rolled his eyes as he stacked his breakfast dishes next to the sink. “I do not need your help. There is nothing to even worry about.”
“But...all the attacks are getting closer and closer to us. It’s moving into our neighborhood!” Alfred stopped his pacing and shot a desperate look at the other man.
“And it is only attacking at night, so you are safe.” He slung his back over his shoulder and turned to fix the young blond with an icy lilac stare. “Unless you are planning to wander alone at night?”
Alfred shook his head, faltering under the intense gaze. “I just thought you might feel better about having someone to protect you...”
Ivan sighed, barely catching the slight tremble in the boy’s movements. “Very well,” he said quietly, moving to stand next to the shorter man. “On second thought, it may be good to have a protector.”
Alfred beamed and reached out to clap Ivan on the back. “That’s the spirit. Now all the monsters in the world couldn’t hurt us! Not even big, bloodthirsty, man-eating bears!”
Ivan stiffened under the young man’s hand. “Bears?”
“Are you afraid of bears? I told you we needed to stick together!” Alfred marched out of the apartment, dragging the larger man behind him. “I don’t want to get mauled and eaten by some crazy killer bear!”
Ivan hmpfed to himself quietly as he walked beside Alfred. “So they are saying it is bears?” he said quietly. Alfred just nodded silently as they walked past a public park.
As soon as they had passed, the young man opened his mouth again. “Yeah. Or just one bear. They think one got loose from a circus or something, because the zoo isn’t missing any. And they think it’s a big bear. A huge one.”
“I wonder how they know all this...” Ivan mused to himself.
“Probably the same reason they knew that first kid was mauled. There’s gotta be like...clues there that they can find like that!” He snapped his fingers in the taller man’s face.
Ivan pressed his lips into thin lines and walked the rest of the way in silence.
~
Alfred panted as he stumbled along the sidewalk, looking back over his shoulder every few minutes, looking for his pursuer. When almost half an hour went by with no signs of continued pursuit, he stopped and collapsed onto a bus stop bench, bent double as he gasped for breath and waited for his heart to stop pounding.
~
Alfred came back from work one day to find the apartment completely dark, everything switched off and, in some cases, unplugged, leaving the main room completely devoid of light. “Ivan?” he called as he reached out and flipped the light switch by the door.
He looked around the room and carefully stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. “Are you here, Ivan?” he said, looking at the furniture that just didn’t seem right, like it had been moved. “Ivan, are you okay?”
He slowly made his way back to the bedrooms, pulling his keys out of his pocket as he went. He checked his own room first, heaving a sigh of relief when everything was untouched. He quickly shut the door again and turned to knock on Ivan’s door.
When there was no answer, Alfred picked out his copy of Ivan’s key with trembling fingers and slid it into the lock. He turned it, barely hearing the tumblers click over the nervous pounding in his chest. He opened the door, only to be greeted by an even deeper darkness than the front room, with only a single flickering candle to light it.
He saw a shape move in the room, briefly obscuring the candle as shadows danced on the walls. “I-Ivan?” he said, his voice quiet and tight in his throat. After a moment, the flame flared up and separated, wavering in the darkness as more candles were lit.
The figure in the middle of the room picked up one of the candles and turned to face Alfred, the firelight flickering across his features. Alfred let out his breath and gave the other man a look of relief. “Ivan! Thank God! What are you doing in here? I was worried that something happened to you.”
The larger man gave one of his wide, guileless smiles. “Alfred. Perfect timing!” he said as he reached out to grab the young man’s hand. “I was just about to come find you.”
Alfred smiled wider, relaxing further. “Really? That’s good. I was just worried that someone broke in. Everything looks kinda...wrong out there.” He glanced back over his shoulder at the open door, then turned back in time to catch the glint of candlelight on the edge of a small knife.
He quickly jerked his hand back, cupping it with his other hand as he backed away from Ivan. “What the hell?” he snapped as his shoulder brushed against the door jamb.
Ivan unfolded into a standing position and followed Alfred forward, leaning close to the young man as he reached out to flip the light switch. “I just need a little bit more,” he whispered, the overhead light snapping on behind him, gleaming off the small glass jars scattered around the candles, each one almost half full with blood. “Just a little bit more and we can be together,” Ivan said, his smile still frozen on his face.
The larger man reached for Alfred again, his knife still resting loosely in his fist. Alfred backed away from Ivan, screamed once, then turned and ran for the front door. He slammed it behind him and locked it before leaning against the far wall to think.
He heard a soft, steady thumping noise on the other side of the door and reached into his pocket for his phone. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the ancient flip-top to start up again. He looked up at the sound of splintering wood and saw a large chunk of wood peel out of the door.
He tapped the edge of the phone nervously as it finished booting up, dialing 911 with shaking fingers until a loud crash made him look up. He almost dropped his phone as he saw the large bear nose shoved through the hole in the door.
He moved down the hall as he pressed the phone to his ear, panting as he watched the brown muzzle sniff the air. “911,” the voice on the other end of the line said. “What is your emergency?”
Alfred screamed as the door collapsed in a shower of large splinters and the large bear landed heavily on top of them. “Bears!” he yelled into the phone. “I’m being chased by a bear! Send help!”
The dispatcher started to ask another question, but Alfred screamed again, dropped his phone, and took off at a run as the bear lumbered towards him.
~
Alfred straightened up and looked around frantically as he heard a noise, but when Ivan or the bear completely failed to emerge, he relaxed again and took a deep breath. “I guess I finally lost him,” he said. “Though I think I lost myself, too...”
He looked at his surroundings again with a small grimace. “I probably don’t want to go home, but there has to be somewhere I can shack up for the night...” He just caught a flash of white in the corner of his eye before the scrap of fabric pressed up against his mouth and his vision blurred.
Ivan smiled and lifted the now-limp body over his shoulders with a soft grunt. “You shouldn’t talk to yourself, Alfred,” he said softly. “People might think you’re crazy.”
~
When Alfred woke up he felt pain marching through his head like an invading army, followed by a secondary sensation of cool breeze ruffling his hair. He groaned and opened his eyes, forcing them to focus on the ceiling as the rest of him came to. He rolled over on his side and looked at the room, recognizing it at Ivan’s room after some mental pummeling.
He rolled the rest of the way onto his stomach and crawled to the edge of the bed, looking at the now-empty glass jars. “...wha happened?” he asked, his voice still a bit slurred.
Ivan’s face hovered into his field of view, smiling happily. “You are better, now,” he said cheerfully. “Now no harm will come to you again.”
Alfred felt his heart race again as he saw the larger man in front of him and he backed away, getting up on his hands and knees to crawl back. “You! What do you think you’re doing!” he cried, pointing his finger at the candles and jars scattered around the floor. “Leave me alone!”
Ivan’s face fell a little as he watched Alfred move away. “But you are better, now. I have made you better.” He reached out to trace a stylized animal head on the young man’s hip, standing out against his skin in vivid blood red.
Alfred looked down at the mark, then grabbed the sheets and pulled them around his waist. “Stop that! What happened! Tell me what you did!”
Ivan sat on the end of the bed as Alfred pressed his back against the headboard. “I made you like me...” he whispered softly, then grinned as his face stretched and his body twisted. After a brief yet horrifying moment, the large bear sat on the end of the mattress.
Alfred sat on the bed for a moment, stunned into silence. Then he reached for the small knife on the bedside table, placed the blade against his throat and pulled. He smiled as his vision blacked out.
Ivan sat patiently on the end of the bed as his sheets turned deep red from the blood, waiting until the wound closed itself. He changed back to his human form after a few minutes and cleared most of the blood-soaked bedding away from the younger man before covering him with a blanket.
He smiled as he stroked the sticky blond hair. “I told you we could be together, now,” he whispered before pressing a kiss to the young man’s forehead. “Forever.”