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Jed Olsen is a journalist from The Roseville Gazette, having previously worked at multiple news outlets over the country of America including Your Daily Fuel and The Weekly Report. Our very own Danny will be traveling internationally to Canada, keeping you updated on the recent crime spree in a small town up north of the country. We hope you enjoy it.

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Danny sighed, staring at the blinking red numbers of his digital alarm clock. It read 2:45am. The man was coated with a sheen of sweat, making his deep red hair stick to his face and back. The hotel room was cold, lonely, and unusual. It was not often that Danny felt uncomfortable but this hotel would be the death of him if he must stay any longer than necessary. Besides, his flight would leave with or without him. Danny was quick to dress, having already picked what he would wear on the flight. It was a simple white turtleneck underneath a beige knit sweater and khaki pants. He pushed his black rimmed glasses onto his face, fake lenses.

Everything was already packed in his suitcase. He had packed it three separate times before he decided to try and sleep for the night. Danny was now seated on his bed, staring at the time on his phone. 2:57am.

Danny opened the uber app and called a ride, grabbing his black suitcase. His heart hammered in his chest. He was nervous, excited. Grabbing the hotel key from his pocket, he opened the door of his hotel room and stepped outside into the lit-up hallway. Danny took a deep breath, his ribs shaking against his lungs as they expanded. This was his big shot. Canada was going to make his career boom, look out Vogue, Danny Olsen is coming. He took one step, two steps. Shit. He forgot his carry on. Good work.

Danny walked towards his uber driver, holding his carry on with a deathly iron grip, knuckles turning white. He put his things in the backseat of the car and got in the front, flashing the driver a bright smile. The uber driver looked awfully uninterested in Danny, staring straight ahead at the road. He was an older man, dark skin and dreadlocks. He seemed to be in his late forties or be much older and just hasn’t been affected by the curse of old age.

Danny’s eyes wandered around the car; it was absolutely spotless. Black leather interior, nice radio.
“You have a very nice car...uh... Sir” Danny’s confidence in his speech died off pretty quickly when the Uber driver said nothing in return. He nervously drummed his fingers against his thighs and bit the inside of his cheek, eyes traveling out the window to see their environment.

A collection of trees and rain drops were all Danny could see, it was dark and foggy and that gave him a pit in his stomach. He always hated the rain. Was I the cold that always accompanied it or was in the dread of what lurked between the raindrops?

Danny starred in between the trees as they drove, the radio playing some popular pop songs. He didn’t pay attention but it was about partying and staying young. Well, he will be 30 soon so it’s too late for that. Danny looked at the hair tie on his wrist and decided to put his hair up to keep himself from hurting his cheek any more. His hair was naturally brown but he decided that he liked the crimson much better. It was a little different than the everyday while still blending him in. The shoulder length locks were tied into a messy bun on his head. An unintentionally good look for him, or maybe he was just tired and didn’t care about his appearance.

A half an hour drive passed him by before he was dropped off at the airport, waving the uber away and a bright smile. The driver said nothing but Danny didn’t complain, Canada would be nicer. He just had to keep telling himself that to get through the day. The airport was very pristine and white, the lights were struggling to keep out the eerie atmosphere of the early morning. Danny checked his phone, 3:42am. His shoes clicked against the floor as he walked up to the counter where an airline employee sat, typing away at her computer. She was an older woman, mid fifties, blonde hair tied into a neat , low bun. She seemed to be married with the ring on her finger, her acrylic nails tapping furiously on her keyboard. Danny silently wondered what her home life could be like, if she had children or pets.

“Good evening, what can I do for you?” her voice was Much more cheaper than he expected regarding her appearance. Interesting. Danny smiled and took his phone out of his pocket, quickly typing in his password.
“Good evening, I’m just here to get my ticket. I haven’t done this in a while so I’m not sure how it works” he laughed softly, nervously. The woman smiled at him and waved her hand dismissively,
“That's okay darling, do you have the email you were sent?” Danny went into his emails quickly and brought it up, finding the QR code to be scanned at the bottom of the email. He brought it up to the woman,
“This one?” he asked before she scanned it into the system.
“Okay now do you have some form of ID? A driver license will do fine” Danny’s heart sank. He pulled out his wallet and found his driver’s license, showing the woman. Danny looked much different in his licence photo. His hair was short and black, he looked so tired and unhappy.

The woman’s eyes lit up,
“Oh! Are you trans? My son is trans and he’s a lovely boy and- “
“No, I’m afraid not.” Danny spoke with no emotion and instead shoved his licence back into his wallet. Ignoring the comment on his appearance, he now learned that this woman does in fact have children. At least one, a son. She looked apologetically at him and slid the ticket to Danny, who instantly lit up and smiled like nothing happened. Danny suddenly felt insecure about his hair all over again, he knew he looked a bit more feminine than he’d like but it hurt his soul a little.

Danny soon checked his baggage in and checked out the shops around the airport, seeing what horrible souvenirs Florida had to offer. Everything was tacky and overpriced so he settled on sitting down and waiting for the plane which would soon be boarding. He sat by himself and listened to the chatter amongst the others who were catching the same flight as him.

Soon the flight began boarding. Finding his seat was difficult but soon he found that he was lucky enough to get a window seat. It was either that or risk sitting in the middle of two people, he’d rather claw his eyes out. Danny sat comfortably in his seat with his bag under his chair, crossing his legs. The nerves came back to bite him, making him fiddle with the sleeve of his sweater, pulling at the frayed knitting. Outside the plane was dark, sky a deep blue now that the sunrise would begin soon. He pushed his glasses up his nose, realising that they had slipped down a bit.

Danny jumped when a man just about threw himself into the seat beside him, letting out an aggravated sigh. He looked around twenty, shaved hair that looked to be a dark grey colour. He had an angry look on his face, eyes dark and under eyes even darker somehow. Danny could see straight through the boy, the way he carried himself. A quick look over his body revealed that he was wearing a dark tank top, ripped up black jeans and some sort of sneaker. The jeans appeared to be ripped through wear instead of being bought like that. He could guess this from where they were ripped and the scars littering the man’s hands and arms. Some looked self-inflicted while others looked like defensive wounds. Danny’s body shivered in excitement at the idea of this man ripping anyone to pieces, maybe if he got on his knees on this plane then the man would rip him to pieces like a sinner desperately looking for redemption from his priest. His throat tattoo took Danny by surprise, must’ve been so painful... Maybe he likes pain. Oh god, maybe he likes pain.

It was only now that he could feel the gaze of the man on him, luckily, he could pretend that he was looking past him instead. If Danny was looking at his face than it would be difficult to do this.

This seemed to work for the man, instead looking at the older man beside him that was messing with the overhead compartment.
“Oi Clive, how long is this gonna take again?” the man who was apparently named Clive looked down at the boy and shrugged.
“Depends, probably under three hours by the looks of things” Clive spoke and then sat in the seat next to the man. Good, he has about three hours to weasel his way into this man’s life and hopefully pants. Danny decided to open his phone and look busy as the others found their seats on the plane. His blood pumped through his veins. A victim. It’s been so long. Too long.

He felt a jab at his arm and Danny snapped his eyes to the man next to him, the young man was staring at him and had nudged him to get his attention.
“what’s your name, hey?” The man spoke with a Canadian accent and had a snarky spark to his voice that Danny definitely expected considering how he was looking.
“Jed Olsen” Danny smiled genuinely at the man, extending a hand to him. The man grimaced,
“You’re that reporter” he snapped
“oh no no! I’m a journalist for the Roseville- “
“don’t give a shit, what it means is that you get into people’s business. No wonder you were staring at me, freak” the man spat at Danny with poison only for him to be smacked in the back of the head by Clive.
“Shut the fuck up, Frank” Clive spoke angrily, glancing at Danny and saying “i’m sorry, kid” Danny just shook his head and laughed.
“No harm done” he continued to laugh softly as the man named Frank shot a look at Clive.

This was going to be difficult. Danny loved a challenge, especially when it was tantalising as Frank.

The journalist looked over the notes in his phone from the recent article he was writing about his traveling to Canada. It would be a challenge to make it interesting but he would certainly figure it out.

After a short while it seemed like Clive had fallen asleep and Frank was not too far away from the same. Although, from the corner of Danny’s eye he could see that Frank was staring at him, his typing.
“It's rude to stare, Franky,” he said before looking at the man, with a small smile. Frank rolled his eyes and muttered a
“Whatever” to the man. He leaned forward in his seat and rested his elbows on his knees, supporting his head with his hands. Danny leaned down in his seat to get into Frank’s frame of view,
“ever been to Canada?” Danny asked with a quiet voice, he had tucked his phone away and made sure Frank could see that. The man sighed and gazed at Danny. Now they were close and Danny could see how stunning the man was. Frank had an eyebrow piercing and a small scar on his chin. Rough around the edges, hiding something, maybe his true self. Danny smiled to himself at the thought as he waited for Frank’s response.

“Fine, I’ll play” he said to Danny,
“I’m from Canada. You haven’t been there I’m guessing?” Frank was easier to crack than Danny had anticipated. He wouldn’t complain, it was a funny way to send a plane ride.

Danny shook his head and went back to sitting in his seat normally, resting his hands on-top of his knee. Frank leaned back in his chair as well and shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants.
“Well, it’s a nice place, where I’m from it's a shithole though” Frank had a look of sadness deep in his brown eyes. Danny wouldn’t be able to pick up on this if he wasn’t a professional people watcher. He could tell that Clive and Frank were close, maybe brothers but the age would be difficult. Maybe a step father, it would explain why Frank called Clive by his name instead of the title of “dad”.

“Well, I hope it’s nice. I’ve been sent there to write up about the murders. I’m sure you’ve heard. They’re quite tragic, interesting though” Danny thought about it, drumming his fingers against his knee. Frank made a noise of acknowledgement,
“Scary as fuck” he commented.

Danny had been given an opportunity to go to Canada to report on a series of murders across the country, all by different residents but they all had the same motive. It was to feed an entity that was said to dwell in their houses. Usually attics or basements, one woman had it in her backyard in a dog house. It was said to have spider legs and no real body, just a mass of dog and insect. It would call to them, whisper sweet nothings about a promised paradise in exchange for blood. It seemed like a cult situation. Cults were so easy to start nowadays, all it took was one-person, good writing and a platform. Danny was sure he could do the same with the platform he had, not that he even wanted to. Cults were disgusting.

“Truthfully, it’s freaking my friends out. One or two, it’s a coincidence or just some crazies but when it becomes ten... it’s too much” Frank sighed. Danny nodded in agreement
Frank turned to Clive, seeing Clive fast asleep and beginning to snore. His eyes travelled back to Danny who was deep in thought,
“hey” he spoke and Danny looked back at the young man.
“I’m sorry about before, it’s nice to meet you” he spoke calmly and even gave a small nod of his head in greeting. Danny smiled and told Frank “oh! It’s no issue” with a small laugh.

By the looks of it, Frank didn’t want to seem fragile to the older man. Danny wondered why, could it be some privacy reason or just how he was raised.

“What is your theory about the murders?” Danny asked the man, trying to keep the subject of his work which he was much more interested in at this moment. Well, he was interested in how Frank felt about murder. He was more than excited to see how this man reacted to things.
Frank pondered for a moment and crossed his arms. Danny couldn’t help but stare at his arms. The man was decently built, but God the veins on his hands. What Danny would do to slice them to ribbons.
“Well, I believe it’s bullshit. An alibi or something, not a good one though” he shrugged plainly. Frank’s eyes looked heavy and the way he was slouched in his chair spoke to Danny. He checked his phone, 4:23am. Fair enough.

“Frank, if you hear anything about the murders, do call me. I don’t just write about this stuff; I gather evidence for the authorities. Anything I gather about the murders goes straight to the police as well as to my publisher.” Danny reached into his pocket to grab a pen and ruffled through his bag to find a business card. Frank made a small “uh-huh” at this, seemingly uninterested but Danny didn’t care.

Danny scribbled something on the card and gave it to Frank. The man didn’t look at it and shoved it into his pocket.

What Frank didn’t know was that along with Danny’s business mobile, email and the Roseville gazette website were also the quick scribbles of Danny’s personal phone number. Next to it was a wink and written “call me, you’ll need me”

Chapter Text

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Frank SURNAME – possible victim
Aged 20-25, Caucasian male. Shaved hair, eyebrow piercing, scar on chin, skull and flame tattoo on neck, multiple scars on arms and hands, decently built. Canadian resident and appears to have an odd relationship with Clive SURNAME. Has friends that fear the recent murders, possibly high school students but more likely a dropout. Returning from a trip to America for unknown reasons.

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The man squirmed in his binds, rope turning from beige to red. His wrists were rubbed raw, the skin blistering and spilling open from the friction. Skin turning pale, body burning up. His blood spilled down his chest as the rough tongue flicked against the wound. Metallic, strong, tacky. The blood spread throughout Danny’s mouth as he eagerly lapped at the wound on Frank’s neck.

“Danny... fuck” he whined, arching his back upwards towards Danny’s movements. Frank rubbed his aching erection against the other man’s thigh, his cock weeping and begging for attention. The ghost face’s next victim has never looked so gorgeous covered in blood and crying. Frank’s eyes were glassy with tears, hands desperately grabbing at the rope that restrained him. Danny took one last swipe of his tongue across the wound and moved back from the body underneath him. Frank was so weak, blood pouring out of the knife wound in his neck. The knife still sat neatly in the flesh, blood pooling around the weapon.

Danny wanted to fuck the wound, watching as his sperm mixed with the red liquid. Frank would be a masterpiece. A mix of misery, ecstasy, and pure sin. A shiver ran through the older man as stated down at the boy, this time reaching for the hilt of the knife. His slender fingers wrapped about the hilt; a grip so hard that his knuckles turned white. With an iron grip Danny ripped the knife from the wound and-

Jed jolted awake from his light slumber when he felt the plane finally land, rumbling from the ground beneath them. He checked his phone, 7:20 am on the dot. A sleepy smile formed on his lips as he recalled the dream he was woken from.

Soon the passengers were departing the plane and Clive had decided to get up and grab his and Frank’s carry-on luggage. Jed watched them silently out of the corner of his eye, pretending to be on his phone.

“Lucky you, you have enough time to get to class” Clive joked
“Piss off” Frank snapped back but Clive just laughed at the remark. Frank saw Clive walk down the middle of the plane towards the exit so he turned to Jed,
“don’t get cocky, I won’t be calling you” he spat before getting out of his seat and following Clive. Jed simply sat in awe at the comment, a smile starting to bloom on his face. Frank was feisty, he loved that. The smile never left his face as he left the plane and walked back into the airport. Jed was in love. He craved the feeling of blood on his hands and God, he wished it would be Frank’s.

Frank’s worn-out red sneakers squeaked against the clean floors of the airport; the man was surprised they hadn’t fallen to pieces on him yet. The trip to Florida with Clive went a lot nicer than what Frank had assumed, it was quite enjoyable. Although, the entire time he was texting the Legion. It wasn’t until he walked outside, feeling the cool Canadian air on his skin that he realised that he was finally home. And that he was freezing cold... Plus craving nicotine.

The two men walked to the taxi bay, Frank immediately slumping himself against the wall as Clive called for a ride. Jed Olsen never left his mind. Frank didn’t expect the journalist to be such a soft-spoken man, let alone normal. His best friend, Joey, would constantly go on about his articles, usually filled with fear. Jed seemed to just grab information from thin air and write about details that law enforcements just weren’t able to gather. Almost like he was there.

Frank’s eyes loomed from his spot on the floor to his foster father,
“Aye Clive, how much longer is this gonna take?” he opened up his backpack, which he took as his carry on luggage, rifling through his things to find his hoodie. Clive just looked over his shoulder and shrugged at Frank.
“Probably ten minutes. Have a smoke or something” the man grumbled, probably annoyed at the taxi service. Frank wished he could have a smoke but he couldn’t take his lighter or cigarettes on the plane. He was starting to feel sick from the withdrawal and it was getting to him. Frank slid his hoodie on over his head and pulled the hood on, instantly feeling relief from the cold. Canada weather was a pain in the ass but it was better than whatever the fuck Florida had going on. There wasn’t a moment while he was there that he was not covered in sweat.

Soon their taxi came around, relief washing over Frank in an instant. They put their things in the boot of the car, Clive sat in the passenger seat and Frank took the back. The taxi driver was chatting to Clive happily but Frank immediately drowned it out by going on his phone and opening up his messages. He sent Joey a message reading,
‘Hey dude, you working tonight? Heading home now so I can come by’

It didn’t take long for Joey to respond enthusiastically, only taking a few seconds to respond.
‘Hell yeah, starting my shift soon. Come on down :P’

It was a good excuse to get out of the house and away from Clive for a while, although he was starting to gain a soft spot for the man. The entire trip to America went swimmingly and now Frank had some respect for the guy that wasn’t playing the role of his father. It’s been a while since he’s gotten totally wasted on alcohol, maybe life was looking up for the better. Or at least Frank wished. He still wanted to get our of Ormond the second he could, with legion of course. There’s no way they can separate now. Not after what happened.

‘Also, guess what shit face I met on the plane?’ Frank texted; he could give the business card to joey. He’d at least be excited and maybe make use of it.
‘Dunno, who?’
‘Go on, guess’
‘Just tell me dude’
‘Jed fucking Olsen'

Frank watched as the three dots on his screen of Joey typing disappeared. His eyes drifted to the window of the taxi, watching the scenery of the city that he missed so dearly. The busy life of America was not for him, if anything he was happier to be home than he’d like to admit to anyone. Especially Clive.

Frank’s phone buzzed in his hand, lighting up to show the notification on screen from Joey. It was a simple shocked emoji, it brought a small smile to Frank’s face. Joey was a shit head. Then the next message popped up, simply reading,
‘Come here right now’
‘ill be there in about half an hour’

Frank replied to Joey’s messages then put his head phones in, opening up Spotify and turning on his playlist. It was simply titled frank’s mixtape and it was full of “hard-core shit” as Susie would put it. Their music tastes were very different so it wasn’t a surprise to Frank that she thought that. Susie listened to all of the popular music at the time with Julie whereas Joey had enough of a mind to be into what Frank liked. At least Joey had good music taste.

The taxi pulled up out the front of Clive’s house. It wasn’t anything fancy but it was decent, definitely better than the other houses that Frank stayed at. It was nice to see it again after having been away for so long, his house actually felt like a home for once in his life. They got out of the car, Clive paying the taxi driver and the two men taking their luggage out of the boot. Frank turned to Clive as he walked to the front door,
“Hey I’m gonna go to Joey’s work to see him” Frank carried his suit case to the door only for Clive to take hold of it for him.
“Yeah kid, that’s alright. I’ll take this inside” he nodded at Frank, unlocking the front door and pushing it open.
“Try not to get into any trouble, yeah?” Frank scoffed at the remark, a smile spreading across his features. He just shrugged.
“No promises” Frank shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, turning on his heel and walking down the drive way brisk fully.

“Be back before curfew!” Clive shouted but Frank’s only response was a dismissive wave of the hand as he walked further away from the house. ‘Try not to get into trouble’ who does that drunk think he’s talking to? Yeah Clive was growing on Frank but it still had a long way to go, just because they had a holiday together doesn’t mean they’re father and son.

Blockbuster. The place where everyone goes to rent DVDs, only to copy them onto a blank disk at home and being it back the next day like nothing illegal happened. At least that’s what Frank did whenever he came down.

He walked up to the building and opened the glass doors, feeling the warmth of the air conditioning immediately. He took off the hood of his hoodie and rolled up his sleeves to bask in it. The walls were filled end to end in DVDs, each Isle being a different genre of film. In the front of the store was the register and small stands with newly released albums and movies. Music played softly over the speakers in the store, filling the silence that would otherwise be there. It was a Wednesday, no one would be in a blockbuster. Besides legion of course.

“Frank!” shouted a small voice from the back of the store, most likely the anime and cartoon section. Before he knew it, a ball of pink was rushing at him with her arms open. Susie tackled Frank into a hug, if it was anyone else than they would’ve been on the floor but Frank was able to stand his ground. Susie was considerably shorter than Frank, standing at around 5’6 while Frank was 5’11. Although she was shorter and far less muscular, she was incredibly strong for her size. Frank let out a huff at the force and smiled down at the younger girl, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. Her hair was a bright shade of pink, must’ve dyed it recently.

Joey and Julie soon followed suit. Joey ran up to his leader and joined on the hug, wearing his work uniform which consisted of a bright blue block buster vest and lanyard. Julie stood five feet away, watching the whole ordeal play out. She tucked some of her blonde hair behind her ear and looked at Frank with a small smile. Frank returned the smile and opened his arms again,
“Come on Jules!” Susie left the hug only to drag Julie and drag her into the middle. She just groaned and allowed to be smothered by her friends for a few seconds before they parted ways.

“It’s so good to be back” Frank sighed and looked around the shop, eyeing the horror isle.
“Hey, wanna do a movie night?” he grinned and pointed towards the isle before turning his head back to his friends. He was disappointed to see over Joey standing there, seeing the back of Julie’s head as Susie pulled her away. Just as Frank suspected, Susie pulled her into the cartoon isle. Typical.

Frank’s face must’ve said it all because Joey just laughed and patted his shoulder,
“don’t sweat it champ. You can come to mine” he walked past Frank and up to the register, opening the employees only door that sat behind the counter.
“My manager and George are working tonight by the way. So don’t do anything stupid” Joey laughed but Frank knew he was serious. Joey was so excited when he found out he got this job, but the dread that washer over him was suffocating. The last job he had ended with murder and blood soaking their hands. The legion changed that day.

Joey gestured for Frank to follow him behind the counter, walking into the break room. The room was a mix of beige and grey. It looked horrible but it wasn’t like Frank was a master at interior design. The lights flickered from time to time, showing the cobwebs in the corners of the rooms. There was a fridge, sink and a table in the middle of the room. Blockbuster definitely didn’t put time or care for their employees, faded curtains covering the only window in the break room. Joey pulled up one of the chairs around the small table in the centre, sitting down himself and putting his feet up. Frank sat beside the man, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

“What’s the deal?” Frank’s voice had dropped to remove all excitement he had previously felt from seeing his friends again. Joey scoffed,
“what’s the deal? Says you!” Joey broke into a smile, this made Frank instantly relax.
“You met Jed FUCKING Olsen, tell me everything. Did you get a photo?” He was so excited that it almost made Frank feel bad for how he treated Jed. Almost.

Frank sighed loudly, recalling the horrible interaction he had with the journalist.
“He freaked me out to be honest, definitely a true crime guy” Frank dug into his pockets for a moment to retrieve the business card. Joey’s eyes instantly lit up when he saw the card, taking it from Frank’s hand before he was even given if.
“I mean... Seriously dude” Frank grimaced,
“I know you like the guy but damn. He kept staring at me too. Like he kept trying to start a conversation with me and his fucking eyes bro... ” he stopped talking when he saw Joey’s face.

His eyes were wide, scanning the card from corner to corner, a snarky grin spread across his face. Frank’s face fell, getting a bit agitated from how his friend was looking at the business card. He felt like Joey wasn’t listening to a word he was saying.
“What?” He spat. Frank’s eyes narrowed. Joey looked from the card to Frank, biting his lip and sucking the air through his teeth. He flipped the card, showing the details to his leader. Suddenly it clicked.
“Franky boy. He was so into you” he burst into a laughing fit as he watched Frank turn pale. His eyes went frantic, reading the text “call me, you’ll need it”

In a frenzied state Frank smacked the card out of Joey’s hand, his throat constricting and his head racing. Joey laughed for a short second before he realised Frank was actually disturbed by what happened,
“hey dude-“
“I knew there was something fucked up about that guy!” Frank yelled, jumping out of his seat. The legs of the chair squeaked against the ground as he left it.
“Jed Olsen is a fucking faggot” Frank gagged and ran his hands down his face. Joey just stared at Frank blankly.

“what’s even the problem?” he started to rise from his seat, more concerned with keeping his job at the moment than whatever Frank was going on about. His leader shot a look at him, coming out of his state. Frank stayed at Joey through his hands, breath slowing down.
“Frank. What’s gotten into you?” Joey reached out to his friend, about to put a hand on his shoulder when Frank smacked it away. His chest rising and falling quickly, hands shaky. The blood pounded through Frank’s skull, his ears ringing. His stomach constricted, a mix of nausea and hunger washing over him. Frank’s hands flew to his stomach, a pained noise leaving his through as he clung to himself. This wasn’t normal. Seeing became a chore, vision tunnelling and heart beginning to beat faster and faster. Frank sunk to the floor, his stomach felt as though it was clawing at his flesh. The hunger was immeasurable. This wasn’t normal. This wasn’t normal. This wasn’t normal.

Joey called out to the others, his speech falling flat against Frank’s ears. His throat folded in on itself, constricting and making breathing difficult. The room spun; his skin crawled. His senses became overwhelmed, new sensations coming in one after another. This wasn’t normal.

But then it stopped.

Everything started to cease, his vision coming back, his body going back to normal. Frank’s eyes dilated, searching the room to try and make out the figures in front of him through blurry vision. Hearing slowly became available again, the voices slowly making sense.

Julie, Susie and Joey were all crowded around their leader who they had laid flat on the floor.
“Holy fuck, are you okay?” Julie was the first to speak, her voice coming from behind his head. It was then that he realised that she had his head in her lap, her cool hands against the burning flesh of his cheeks. Frank looked up at her, eyes weak. He nodded, swallowing thickly from his dry throat. His stomach growled, more like a monster than an organ.
“Susie, call Clive” Julie handed Susie her phone, the dangling charm blurry against Frank’s vision. Frank felt Julie’s soft hands gently stroking at his face, instantly feeling much calmer from the whole ordeal.

“Go to the bathroom. Now”

Frank’s eyes shot around the room frantically looking for who the voice belonged to. The voice was an amalgamation of multiple women, disembodied and haunting. His heart began to race once again. he was in a complete state of panic. His stomach growled aggressively, thrashing against his other organs. A guttural scream left his throat, grabbing at his stomach yet again and squeezing his eyes shut. The organ pulsed, cramping and shivering in his abdomen.

“GO”

The voice came out as a scream, deafening his senses and making his brain throb at the sound. Frank was paralysed to the spot, the unknown and menacing aura holding him in a tightening grip. Breath starting to escape him, the walls closing in around him at a horrific speed. Hunger became a tangible, living force that crept over him like some hungry beast, immobilizing his brain. Frank finally snapped, bending to the will of the voice and scrambling to his feet and out of Julie’s grip. He could hear their voices but could not make any words. He wanted to stay, desperately, but it would not let him. His steps were shaky and quick, forcing Frank to move closer and closer to the staff bathroom. Behind that door was his key to freedom, whatever it was. The cracked paint of the bathroom door confronted his eyes. Then he smelt it, the stench of death.

Back in the break room Susie was on the phone to Clive, tears streaming down her face, her voice wavering.
“I-I... I don’t know, he looked like he had a seizure. I think he just went to throw up” she sniffled, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie. Julie sighed and ran a hand through her hair, turning to joey who looked mortified. His eyes wide and scanning the two girls for some idea of what to do. They didn’t have enough money to get an ambulance, even if they rifled through the register they wouldn’t have enough. Before it seemed bad but now if was threatening.

Joey felt a tug on his sleeve, turning to see Susie giving the phone to him.
“Tell Clive what happened” she said, her face stuffy and red from crying. She always worried the most out of them, she cared so much for her friends and was the main reason the all became so close with one another. Joey took in a deep breath to calm his shaky voice,
“Okay so-“

Joey couldn’t finish his thought before a blood curdling scream echoed throughout the store, it was the kind of scream that bypasses the ears to speak right to the soul. Susie stopped crying and covered her mouth, eyes going wide and staring at Joey. They heard that scream once before, at mount Ormond. When Julie was grabbed at Joey’s old work place. Frank snapped that night and the Legion became something more than just a group of friends that messed with the locals and stole from the shops. They became something dark and twisted.

Julie remembered that night. How Frank came to her aid. She jumped to her feet and ran from the break room, sliding on the shiny floor and moving directly to the staff bathroom. Her hands flew out in front of her to grasp the door in front of her, shoving it open and pushing her body through the door way. Then it hit her. The stench of death.

The bathroom was dark, dirty and down right filthy. The once white tiles were now splattered with blood and gore, strings of organs spread across the floor. The crimson liquid had sprayed across the room, most likely from arterial pressure being released.

A man’s body laid on the ground, eye sunken and glazed over, wide open. Clothes were thrown around the bathroom, torn and soaked with crimson. The name tag “george” was cracked and had been tossed towards the door. Flesh that clung to his skull was pale and turning blue, the blood having been completely drained from his corpse. The body itself didn’t look human, it was sprayed across the ground, bones being visible as flesh and muscle was being knawed at. Over the corpse stood a man in a black blockbuster vest that read “manager” in bold blue text.

Frank stumbled back, into Julie’s arms. He desperately clung to her and slipped on the floor, blood making his shoes lose all grip. The girl held him up, eyes bludging from her skull as she stared at the scene in front of them.

The manager has completely eaten the flesh off the employee, licking the bones clean and almost polishing them with his tongue. This was not like mount Ormond. This wasn’t just murder.
“He... he’s e-eating him” Susie voice was small but sent both Frank and Julie jumping and turning to her. Joey and Susie clung to each other behind them, having ran to help Frank.

Joey couldn’t get a job without blood being in the building.

Chapter Text

The sun beating down on his face did absolutely nothing to help warm his freezing figure. The shivering was unbearable but what was even worse was the stench of the store. The man turned to the nurse beside him,
“Have you seen anything like this?” he asked innocently.
“Never in my career. Especially not in this town” the nurse’s tone saddened the man. Or at least he pretended it did. Danny was incredibly thrilled to not only be on a crime scene again, but one so brutal and raw.
“People around here just aren’t capable of something so inhumane” the nurse said,
“I mean. The worst we get is shop lifting or vandalism” she turned to look at Danny, fiddling with the gloves on her fingers

They were stood just outside of the blockbuster building, watching as the teenagers were cleared for interviewing. They looked quite young to Danny, the one with pink hair could be 16 based on looks alone. The blonde one appeared older, maybe 19. The blockbuster employee looked different, around 20 as well but he wasn’t too sure. He could definitely be wrong but he would find out soon enough.

Danny had figured out the name of the nurse ten minutes ago when she was taking a private phone call which he pretended not to listen to. Her name was Sally, she was talking to who he could assume to be her partner. Danny would’ve picked her apart if he wasn’t already occupied with a potential victim. He liked to keep it planned, precise and personal.

“In America it’s quite different” Danny said, taking off his glasses and beginning to clean the lenses.
“there’s a different murder every day, a different shooting every week...” he sighed and inspected his lenses before putting the glasses back on, adjusting them until he was satisfied.
“It never gets easier to deal with” Danny looked overhead at the sky. It was a very clear morning, not a single cloud in the bright sky. This would have been a perfect day if not for the murder. Even for him, it shook him to his core to know someone was eaten.

The doors to the store were slammed open in a hurry by two paramedics, one helping support a young man and the other holding the door open. Danny overheard that one of the teenagers had passed out from shock once they saw the corpse. He would’ve needed to be helped separately; Danny was quite surprised with how fast they have acted. Definitely better than the police in America. Then he saw it. Danny’s eyes snapped wide, pupils expanding to the size of saucers. The man being carried out had a familiar neck tattoo and eyebrow piercing, the same facial structure. This was his chance to know Frank, to get Intel. His hands shook with excitement.

The Nurse turned to Danny; eyes soft but lack luster. She was definitely trying to keep her emotions deep within her.
“I’m sure you know this but you have ‘all clear’ to start with interviewing” she pulled her mask up over her features and turned to the ambulance on the opposite side to them.
“I know you are good at what you do” Sally started. She was terrified.
“But please. Find out what happened, for my town.”

With that Sally left Danny to ponder what events could have led himself to such a perfect fall of events. Frank was there. Right within his grasp.

The world seemed to spin around Frank and a sharp, throbbing pain took hold of him, so much so that all he wanted to do was vomit and hope the pain would come out with it. His eyes darted all over the ambulance, desperately searching for a way to relieve his body from this miserable feeling. For a moment the man focused on the pain, honing in on every sensation. Where it came from, how badly it hurt and how badly he wanted it to stop. The pain would not end no matter what he did to distract himself. He was starving.

His eye was wrenched open by the gloved fingers of the nurse,

“Follow the light for me please” her soft voice spoke to Frank, instantly making him feel calmer. It’s no wonder she has her job. A small medical flashlight was shined into his eye, the light dim but hurting his eyes. She moved it from left to right and did exactly as he was instructed, following the beam of light. The nurse let go of his eye and turned off the light, turning to the nurse beside her,

“Dilated pupils, bloodshot too” she simply put.

The nurse was gorgeous. Red hair pulled back into a tight and neat low ponytail. She wore clear plastic coveralls, blue scrubs, blue plastic gloves and a surgical face mask. She felt so sterile compared to him.

If it wasn’t cold before, Frank was definitely feeling it now. He shivered under his hoodie, shoving his hands into his pockets after tugging his hood on. The nurse immediately took note of this and went to the other side of the ambulance before coming back with what appeared to be a metallic sheet.

“This is a shock blanket. It should help you warm up” the way her eyes crinkled made it obviously that she was smiling under her mask. The nurse draped the blanket around the back of Frank, wrapping it around his front.

“We’ve called your father as well; he will be here soon. You just need to answer some questions for the police and you can be on your way” she tried to calm him but it did nothing besides flare up his already horrible anxiety.

His mind was scattered, everything happened so quickly. He was hearing voices, incredibly hungry and walked in on a cannibal. Tears stung Frank’s eyes; he would hate himself for being so sensitive but what he saw was worse than the janitor. It was animalistic. The way he tore into the other man in front of him, the stench, the way Julie held him. He hadn’t been awfully close with Julie for a while, he hated that the first time they were close was because of a cannibal. All of this happened and it wasn’t even lunch time. This time yesterday he was living it up in America and now he’s sitting in an ambulance, shivering and sobbing like a pussy. Frank was alone, the other members of legion were stable enough to be questioned but Frank was barely able to walk out of the store let alone speak.

Frank heard a familiar voice in his ear and he almost cried out for it. All that left his mouth was a sob. He turned to the back of the ambulance, his eyes lighting up as he saw Clive climbing into the van. He looks the same as when Frank last saw him, just an hour ago. But even so, he looked like home. Clive was not the perfect father figure but to Frank, it was exactly what he needed. Clive gave him a roof over his head, food, car rides, safety and even after everything Frank did, he was still his friend.

Clive’s face dropped when he saw the way Frank was, crying, shivering. In that moment Frank wasn’t just his foster child, he was his son, at the very least he was his friend.

“Kid...” Clive sighed and sat down next to the boy, his arm wrapping around his shoulders and pulling him in. Frank didn’t try to fight it, instead he wrapped his arms around Clive’s torso and leaned in close. He took in a deep breath and started to break down, not being able to keep it together any longer. Frank’s cries echoed through the ambulance, out to the rest of the parking lot. He killed someone; this was different. This was vile.

Susie’s eyes were glassy, liquid like in her skull. It seemed they didn’t fit with the rest of her appearance. She appeared soft and childlike, her cheeks like plums and her eyelashes curling down upon them. Her eyes were different, they had seen something. That something was a horrific crime, something Danny could never commit. It was too much even for him. Susie fiddled with the sleeve of her hoodie, staring down at the ground from where she stood. Her shoes were dirty and old, the soles of the shoes breaking in multiple places. Her hair was freshly dyed a deep pink, like beetroot.

Danny cleared his throat and opened up his note book, flipping to a clear page and clicking his pen.
“Thank you for your time” he said clearly and softly, his eyes running over her in waves. Susie nodded silently, looking up at Danny now. She was considerably shorter than him but most people were, he could not underestimate her strength however. In his line of work, he’s been gravely injured by men and women that seemed so fragile.

“When did you find the body?” he asked simply. Susie’s lip quivered and she wiped her eyes on the sleeve. She didn’t speak for a moment but then she shrugged,
“About... An hour ago” her voice was so quiet. They were both close now but even so, Danny had to strain to hear her words.

He nodded and adjusted his glasses, scribbling on his notepad in horrible handwriting. Jed has horrible handwriting; it was part of the act.
“It was... I...” Susie tried to find the words but she came up with nothing, letting out a shakey breath. Danny nodded and wrote again, ‘Witness is shaken by the events, hard to get information out of’

Susie pushed some hair behind her ears to the sides of her face, tugging her hood down even more to conceal her face. Her eyes were covered now, only her nose and mouth were visable.
“Is... Is he...” she inhaled,
“Is Frank okay? He... H-he uh. He wasn’t okay. We think he had a seizure but then he um... “The girl fiddled with frayed hem of her hoodie in between her small fingers.
“He just got up out of nowhere. Walked out of the room without even looking back... I don’t know if he was sick or... He...” she began to choke up. No tears were visible yet but soon she would cry. Danny caught onto this and knew he’d have to act fast in order to get any information out of her, before she loses it even more.

Danny looked through his fake lenses at the girl, then above her head. His eyes caught the ambulance and a few police cars, some of the teenagers were being questioned as well. There was a girl with blonde hair, she was listening to the police rather than talking. Danny would have to crack her in order to get any information.

He looked back at Susie,
“I believe he will be fine. A bit of shock, that’s all. As for the seizure, I’m sure the doctors will be able to handle that” he smiled softly, tapping his pen on the side of the notepad. The girl’s head shot up from the floor, her eyes now visible and bloodshot. Susie’s eyes looked from him to the notepad, her fiddling getting noticeably worse. He kept tapping

“That’s uh... That’s good” she cleared her throat now, looking behind her and to the ambulance. The blonde girl from before nodded her head at Susie and the girl did the same back. Susie turned to Danny again.
“Have you talked to him? Frank, I mean” Susie asked.

Danny thought about the plane ride, Frank’s mannerisms, the sweet idea of watching his blood spray across the concrete from an arterial point being sliced into ribbons, screaming, crying, begging for it to-

Danny cleared his throat, adjusting his fake glasses yet again before continuing to tap his pen.
“I have not spoken to him yet but I must. Hopefully I can get some information that will make this whole situation go down faster. I cannot imagine how you and your friends are feeling right now” Danny looked off at the ambulance again before Susie’s voice stopped him.

“Um... Excuse me Mr Olsen. Can you... Please can you stop doing that?” Danny pondered her question for a small moment before stopping and letting out a small chuckle,
“Oh goodness, please forgive me. It’s a nervous habit” he smiled, embarrassed. She must either have bad anxiety or even sensory issues. That could work if her and Frank are together. Set off the smoke detector and she’d panic, leaving him and Frank alone.

A chill ran down him.

“Thank you, Susie, I believe that’s all” he put his notepad and pen in his pocket, noticing how Susie looked at him. She was shocked,
“I barely told you anything” her eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly agape but Danny just ignored it.

“surprising right? First interviews go fast. I may have to call you down to the station for more questioning but that’s all for now” that was a lie. Danny was sick of her, sick of it all. He wanted Frank and nothing else. He was an artist... And by the gods, Frank was his muse.