Amongst the Forgotten

Amongst the Forgotten

story codes: BB, anal, ScFi
DISCLAIMER

This story is _Science-Fiction_and more importantly: completely fictional, I made the whole thing up! This story contains descriptions of a gay, sexual nature between two minor teens. If this subject matter is not for you then don't read it! All characters and situations are fictional, so any similarities to any real people or events is purely coincidental.

Any comments, criticisms, or flames are welcomed. Please send to: turtleboy@turtleboystribe.com
Please do not publish this story anywhere else without the authors consent.

Amongst the Forgotten

Written by TurtleBoy

Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six

His mind wondered as he stared off into space, the one place that he felt safe. Gazing deep into the nothingness that fabricated his reality, he would become entrapped in its calmness, and allow for his soul to be set free. Comfort would embrace him, and he'd permit his subconscious to carry him far, far away. There was always something there, deep within his mind, that always assured him that he was meant for so much more; that there was a place where he belonged, where he would be free -- happy.

Elliot Perk sat on the front porch of his house, just as he had done throughout the better part of his sixteen years of life through moments such as now. A crashing thud pulled him back into the depths of the world's grasp. He could hear screams from behind him, piercing through the glass of the living room. He swung his feet to-and-fro, hoping that the crashing sounds of his heels against the wooden flooring would drown out at least part of the noise, but he knew it would do no good. He could hear his mother; she was screaming at his father while the man flew throughout the house, like a monstrous nightmare found `only' in horror movies, destroying everything in sight, again.

As he would sit outside of his home, Elliot would often fantasize about leaving. In fact, that was all he ever thought about: running away, never to return. There was only one thing holding him back: Elliot Perk was a coward. He'd wake up each morning with every intention of packing his bags, leaving for school, and never looking back. However, as the day would progress, so would his thoughts. Where would he go? How would he survive when he got there? What would happen if he left, would his parents care? Would they even notice? He would brew on those questions for hours-on-end, just staring up at the stars, listening to their call, and wondering what it was like to be so free.

The sky bled a strange glow of dark orange; one of those rare times when the moon and the sun seemed to be at war with each other, as they both fought for their place in the sky. Elliot's face cringed as the sound of a metal pot ricocheted off the floor from inside of the house, which then spun through the air and collided against the window. He jumped to his feet to look into the room, but no one was there. With his hands gripped to the sides of his jeans, feeling his frustration and worry blending into fear, he felt his eyes water and a tear roll down to his now quivering chin. He wasn't sure what exactly had come over him, but suddenly he saw his arms lift above his head, the blur of something above him, then the sound of crying glass as it shrieked its way into the house and spread across the floor.

"What the fuck was that?!" screamed the voice of Elliot's father David. "Elliot! What the hell's the matter with you boy!" Elliot saw the tall, muscular man approaching him with a beat-red face, clenched fists, and bulging veins that spoke only fury. David's eyes glared to the floor, at a rock sitting in the middle of the room, and then turned to see Elliot staring back at him through the broken window.

Before Elliot could muster a thought, the front door opened and his father's mass was pouring through it. Elliot's body betrayed him and refused to react on par with his mind. As a result of this failure, his head was forced to the surface of the porch, with his hair glued within the confines of a closed fist. "What the fuck's the matter with you boy! Do you have any idea how much a window costs?!"

David's hand trembled in rage against the boy's scalp, as Elliot peered into the house through its opened door, at the now dormant carnage that his father had created. Elliot stared back at his father, his eyes quickly swallowed within his father's numbing gaze, and somehow a smug grin crept against his cheek.

David's expression grew from angry to insulted, and he shoved the boy's head toward the ground harder than Elliot thought his skull could endure.

"David! Don't you dare!" screamed the broken voice of Elliot's mother Samantha, as she swung her arms around her husband's neck.

Surprise and relief flooded itself throughout Elliot's body when he saw his mother come to his rescue, though he didn't stick around to admire his heroine. Instead, he took advantage of the moment and ran for the street. His legs travelling faster than he thought to be wise, but he could not convince them to slow. Racing thoughts randomly scattered themselves throughout his brain, his heart pounding, his lungs burning. The unfamiliar feeling of pride overcame the once consuming emotion of terror. How great it had felt to destroy something of his father's, to defy his very persona, both his own and his father's at the same time, then, his mother who had magically come to his rescue, just like in the movies. Elliot felt a smirk find its way upon his face as he thought of the movie's title: "Elliot's Grand Adventure." His grin grew wider, the title sounded so cheesy when played out in his mind that Elliot had to oblige with a giggle over the thought of having his own fairy tale.

Approaching a four-way intersection, Elliot sped-up and ran around the corner. His gaze glued to the skies as its colour changed from the once dark orange to a deep red. Ahead of him, in between two houses, he could see the sun melting into the horizon of Lake Ontario. Elliot smiled at its beauty and innocence as he turned and spun around another corner; when suddenly, a loud squeal rang itself against the blaring pitch of a horn which travelled from every direction. The entire world wrapped itself in a strange mesh of wiry blackness, like a parasite, straight from a comic book, attacking its prey. Elliot struggled with his eyelids but they refused to open. Everything spun with the intensity of a runaway baby's carriage. His body rolled and bounced, both at once, the ground felt like a cheese grater against his flesh; and then, all too quickly, the world stopped.

Elliot lay suppressed in confusion. Unsure if he should move, or if he even could. He pried apart his eyelids and opened his eyes, using every ounce of strength that he could summon, or at least they felt like they were open. He could hear a strange humming sound, like a television station that was off the air. He was lying down, but he couldn't understand how it had happened, how he had fallen, or even when. Echoing voices spun from all around him, and dim lights twinkled softly in the distance. When suddenly, a man's voice began to cry out to him from above; it was rough yet strangely soothing...

"Hey! Kid! Are you okay? Kid? You hearin' me boy?"

Elliot looked up as the figure of a small, chubby man came into focus, "Yeah -- what happened?" he groaned.

"Okay kid, don't move! Okay? Just sit still, you're going to be all right."

The voice became faint as the man ran towards his car, "It's okay," whispered Elliot as he sat up. "I'm fine, honest." Elliot climbed to his feet and watched as the man fumbled with a cell phone beside the car, yelling words in an unfamiliar language. Elliot took a deep breath and approached the man, but as he neared him the world became brighter and brighter with every trodden step.

His eyes opened to the sounds of chirping birds from outside of a window. The world was filled with its familiar morning blur. Rubbing his face with closed knuckles, Elliot sat up in his bed and looked around the room. His floor was a scattered array of clothes and stacked books, the door was opened, the lights in the hall were lit, and the clock read eight thirty-seven.

"Shit!" he screamed and jumped out of bed then ran for the hall. He paused for a moment when he realized that he was still dressed in the same clothes as the day before, but dismissed the idea of changing and ran through the front door.

By the time he got to school the bell had already rung. His mind scrambling at a million thoughts per second trying to devise the perfect excuse to tell his teacher, on behalf of his tardiness. Elliot stood in the hall, inhaled a large breath of air, and opened the door to his first period class. The teacher, Mrs. Ellen, barely blinked when he squeezed past her and made his way to his desk at the back of the class. As he attempted to catch rhythm to whatever English lesson she was blurting out, Elliot's eyes locked with that of an unfamiliar boy.

Elliot wasn't used to being noticed. It just wasn't something that happened on a regular day, yet here he was drowning in the gaze of the bluest, most-deepest set of eyes he had ever seen.

"Hi," the boy said quietly with a smile.

"Hey," replied Elliot, trying to dismiss the acknowledgement and return to his own seclusion.

"I'm Gabe... Gabe Williams... Uh, that's short for Gabriel. Well, the first part anyway," the boy looked to the front of the class at Mrs. Ellen. "She's always been a wordy one, huh -- never seems to shut up," he snickered softly and then looked back to Elliot. "What's your name?"

Elliot sighed and dropped his head to his desk as if trying to hide from Mrs. Ellen's sight, "It's Elliot."

"Pleased to meet you Elliot!"

"Shh!" hissed Elliot, "You're going to get us in trouble," his eyes whipping across the room toward Mrs. Ellen, then to all the oblivious students around them.

Gabe shrugged dismissively. "No worries. By the looks of these people here, they don't care all that much on whatever we're doing back here," his gaze redirected to the window then back to his desk. "These seats we're in are like a vortex. Whatever we do back here, the rest of the world will never be the wiser. It's a fact! Why do you think the back seats in a class are the most popular? Teachers can't see or hear that far across the room."

Elliot rolled his eyes as he tapped his fingers nervously against his desk. "Yeah right..." he looked to the chalkboard where Mrs. Ellen was still rambling as she wrote down an assignment, "Uh... I don't mean to be a jerk or anything, but can this wait until after class?"

An amused smirk pasted itself against Gabe's cheek, one of those grins that could tell you an entire story but never reveal its plot. "Yeah, sure thing man, no prob," he then respectively turned to face the front of the class.

Elliot smeared his hands across his face then combed his fingers through his dark-brown locks of hair, and his face hit the top of his desk; his eyes glazing over, but strangely floating towards Gabe. The boy was strange. Not new-kid strange, something more. He seemed carefree, and had the confidence to back it up. His head stood high and neck straight, as if amused to be where he was. His hair was cut short and combed forward, carefully styled. Something that Elliot never seemed to have the patience to do, but always wanted to be able to sport the look. Gabe was thin, pale, and eerily happy. His shirt was a bright red, and his jeans were made of soft-looking denim -- but baggy, like the style most kids wore back in the nineties, though Gabe wore them well... Elliot heard a sigh creep from his throat as he stared, almost in a trance-like state, at the new boy beside him, but before he could think to panic over what he had done the bell rang and all was well in the world once more.

Under his breath, Elliot gasped in relief and climbed out of his chair to make his way to second period's class. He heard a rustling from behind, followed by some whispered-giggles, as he approached the classroom's exit. Whipping his head around to look behind himself, Elliot saw Gabe. He stood as straight as one of those royal guards that stand outside of Buckingham Palace, with a sucked in smile upon his face. "What are you doing?" Elliot asked, curiously.

"Nothing." Gabe chuckled. "What are you doing?"

"Going to my next class."

"Cool. I'll come with you." he announced with a mischievous giggle.

Elliot turned around. "Seriously, what are you doing?" but Gabe only snickered.

As Elliot turned to continue walking down the hall, he felt a hard, rounded form obnoxiously smack into the side of his leg. He turned around and stared at Gabe. "Dude, what's your problem?"

Gabe snickered. "What?"

"You kicked me!" suddenly Elliot realized what Gabe had done, and he twirled around, reaching to his back, then pulled off a piece of paper which had been taped to his back. "Kick me?" Elliot read, his voice filled of irritation. "Don't you have a class?" asked Elliot with a sigh.

"Yeah, don't you?"

"Yeah," Elliot crumpled up the paper and tossed it down at Gabe's feet.

"What class do you got?" Gabe asked playfully as he followed in beside Elliot down the hall.

Elliot rolled his eyes and huffed the word, "Geography."

"Sweet! Me too!" beamed Gabe as he sped up his pace to match Elliot's. "So, what's the matter? I mean... Am I bothering you? `Cause you did sort'a say we could talk after class, and well -- it's after class?"

"Yeah actually, you are." Elliot replied bluntly, feeling guilt the moment the words left his lips.

Gabe raised his hands to shoulder level and backed away from Elliot. "Woah, I'm sorry man, just thought I'd be friendly," he then turned to walk in the other direction.

Elliot suddenly felt guilt overwhelming his own frustration and turned to face Gabe. "No... Uh... I'm sorry. I'm just not used to people talking to me so much... I guess."

"All the more reason to get you talkin'," Gabe teased as his face grew another smile.

Gabriel resumed his walk with Elliot to their next class but did so in an awkward silence. They watched as other students wove past them, concerned only of their own existence. This is why Elliot found it so hard to make friends; he found most people so ignorant, so self-involved, that he couldn't stand the thought of becoming one of them. So instead, he remained distant. However, now that someone had forced themselves upon him, he suddenly felt obligated to pursue in the mindless banter called conversation. That and he found Gabriel strangely interesting, but even stranger: almost familiar, like he knew the boy from somewhere.

"So..." started Elliot, "how long you been here? You seem to know Mrs. Ellen a bit."

Gabe stopped and thought for a moment, almost nervously, "Erm... I dunno -- not that long."

"Uh... okay," Elliot dismissed his scepticism as he concluded their walk. "Here's our class."

The boys entered the room and once again sat in the back of the class. Gabe threw his feet up on top of the table and leaned back in his chair. "So -- how long have you been here?"

"All my life. Same city, same schools, same house," muttered Elliot in obvious resentment.

"That's a long time dude -- what like 13 years?" Gabe asked, obviously trying to find out Elliot's age.

Elliot's eyes fluttered and his left eyebrow curled, "Sixteen... This is grade 11..." Elliot sat up in his seat, "I don't look that young do I?"

"Nah... Well a bit -- guess I just suck at estimating." Gabe admitted.

"Well what else would I be doing in this class?"

"I dunno." shrugged Gabe, "You could just be really smart."

Finding his curiosity peaking, Elliot decided to throw back some of his own questions. "So... This isn't really your class is it?"

Gabe sensed the direction of Elliot's interest, "Not exactly I guess."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, it was my class -- before."

"Okay..." Elliot wasn't sure how to respond to such a cryptic reply, so instead he moved on, "So, how old are you?"

"You mean how old I think I am, or how old I was?" Gabe inquired, taking pleasure in the puzzled look that streaked across Elliot's face, and then went on to explain, "Technically, I'm 14, but probably more like 24 by now... Kinda lose track of time around here."

Elliot chuckled, partly in confusion but more-so in frustration, Gabe's strange nature just kept getting stranger, "I really don't follow."

"You will." replied Gabe, smugly.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You'll figure it out, and when you do -- you can find me in the schoolyard." Gabe smirked to himself then stood up from his chair and placed his hand on Elliot's shoulder, "See yeah later Elly."

Elliot thoughts became puzzled and clouded as he watched the odd boy randomly leave the room, shuffling himself in between other students while they entered. As the boy disappeared through the door, Elliot placed his hand on his shoulder; Gabe's touch had left a strange heated-tingle against it. He looked to the door as the teacher entered, and then to the window where he watched Gabe crossing the schoolyard towards a picnic table. `How did he get outside so fast?' thought Elliot, but suddenly his attentions were drawn to the shadow of someone's backside as it fell towards him, as if to sit on his lap.

Jumping out of his seat, falling to the floor in the process, as the invading rump stole his chair. Elliot looked up at the boy, Jason, in irritation, embarrassment, and anger all wrapped into one crazy emotion, "Dude, what the fuck's the matter with you?"

When Jason didn't answer, Elliot felt his rage begin to bubble and he climbed to his feet, "Hey, ass wipe!" but still there was no reply from Jason.

Elliot drew back his arm while clenching his fist and thrust his knuckles against the back of Jason's head. The intruder's face crinkled up and his head shot to the side as his face became instantly flushed and confused, "What the fuck was that!" he protested angrily, and looked behind him.

The commotion magnetized the attention of the rest of the class, and they all stared towards Jason's sudden uproar. "What did you do?" asked Jason's friend Leon from across the room.

Jason looked toward Leon, then around at the rest of the class, "What are you faggots looking at!" he screamed through a frown.

Elliot looked around the room, thought for a moment, then thought even harder, but all he concluded was confusion. He circled around the room, feeling everyone's eyes seemingly piercing right through him. He felt the muscles of his eyelids become restless as his mind began to wander, in an attempt to piece together what was happening to him. Then, he looked out the window to where Gabe was laying down on the top of a table. Mr. Richards, the geography teacher, entered the room and stood in front of his desk while looking at his text book as Elliot barged right past him, their hands grazing, Elliot suddenly felt his hand become tingly and warm. Looking back at Mr. Richards, seeing the man lift his own hand and then scratch against his palm, Elliot turned for the door and ran into the halls. With his fluster and panic fuelling his body, he bolted down the empty hall towards its exit.

"Gabe!" Elliot shouted, "Gabe!!" he screamed even louder as he ran down the school's front stairs, "What did you do to me!"

Gabe sat up from where he was resting, and turned to face Elliot as he approached him. "What's up Elly?"

"What did you do?" asked Elliot as he stopped in front of Gabe to catch his breath.

Gabe looked at the panting boy and smiled, "The question is... Why are you breathing heavy?"

Elliot stopped to think, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't play stupid Elly. I said not to come to me until you figured it out... and I can tell -- you figured it out."

"Figured what out?" Elliot asked through his own stubbornness.

"Don't ask questions, just scream and let it out... You'll feel better -- you just gotta come to terms with it, that's all."

Elliot glared at Gabe then thought for a moment -- still trying to catch his breath -- he stood up straight and suppressed his gasping lungs, they seemed to become obsolete, like breathing was no longer compulsory. Gabe watched as he saw the look of confusion and terror flood across Elliot's face, "There you go Elly, you're getting it."

"No... I'm not getting it. What's happening?" Elliot pleaded.

Gabe sighed heavily, trying to portray frustration but only showing humour, "Must all you guys always need to hear it out loud?" he looked Elliot in the eyes and approached him, "Elliot..." he said in a soft, sympathetic tone, "you're dead."

Blinking of blindness, Elliot stepped back from Gabe, "Fuck you." He said in retaliation's denial.

Gabe's hands rose into the air from his sides and he looked up to the clouds, "And here comes the running!" he announced, as if predicting the future, "Go on Elly -- run. They all do; try to get away from it, the truth." Gabe paused to see Elliot backing away from him, "You can run all you want, but you'll just end up right back where you started."

"Shut up." warned Elliot.

"Or what? You gonna kick my ass?" Gabe jumped back and threw out his hands yet again, while crouching down just like a quarterback, "Come on Elly, give it a shot -- see where it gets you."

"Stop calling me Elly! What does that even mean?!" screamed Elliot, "And fuck you! I'm not dead! I can't be dead!"

Gabe stopped, smiled briefly, then stood up straight, "Woke up in your bed this morning huh?" he stepped toward Elliot, "Just like you do every morning huh?" he then turned his back to him and walked back to the table, "How did you get in your bed? Do you even remember? Or, how about that weird dream you had? You know the one. The one you THOUGHT was a dream."

Elliot stood, unmoving, recalling the strangeness of his dream -- and the lack of knowledge regarding anything in between: the car, the lights, the voices, THE light, then morning, and waking up in his bed. "I don't understand."

"Yes you do." chirped Gabe, "You just gotta let everything settle."

Elliot fell to the ground and drove his fingers deep into the grass, but felt no sensation of its presence, its life. His hands turned to fists and he threw them heavily against the ground, they would stop at its surface, he could see himself pounding the ground, but it would cause no feeling. Terror plagued his mind. His chest felt as if his heart were still racing within its centre, still pumping blood throughout his veins, consumed in every devouring-emotion possible, all at once: anger, fear, remorse, regret, denial, but mostly terror, Elliot felt as if he were still alive. How could he be dead, how could this be real? Looking over to Gabe, Elliot saw only questions, "I can't be dead!" he cried out, "How can this be death?!" he tried to pull the grass from its roots with his clenched fingers, "What did I do to deserve this!?"

Elliot spun onto his back. He knew how he must look to Gabe, rolling around on the ground like a fool, but he didn't care: an emotion he didn't even know he possessed. Instead, he tossed and turned, his arms flailing about in all directions. He could not control his actions any more than he could control what had happened to him. His insides shook and trembled, only causing him more confusion and intolerance; he was fed up with the feelings, the uncontrollable emotions, but mostly the lingering feel of life which he still possessed. "Why do I still feel?!" he bellowed, face coarse and red, "It hurts so much!"

Gabriel lowered onto his knees, "Just let it out Elly -- it helps." He then placed his hand on Elliot's back and let it linger near his shoulder.

"FUCK!" Elliot screamed, wanting to smash his face as hard as possibly could into the ground, but feared its feel emptiness. He twitched his shoulder, whipping out his arm to shake Gabe's hand from his back, "Why can I feel you."

Gabriel sat down in the grass, away from Elliot, to allow him to sort out his thoughts amongst himself. "Because we exist." he said softly.

Part Two

Elliot turned his reddened gaze to Gabriel, "What the FUCK does that mean?" he said harshly, without concern of offence.

"It means -- we are just as we were before we died. Only now, we're in a different part of the world. The same place and surroundings, but stuck in a separate plain of existence. We can only feel what belongs in our world. It's kind of like the living side of the world is a projection." Gabe stopped to think of a better explanation, "Like, when you go to a movie in 3D. You can see things popping out in front of you. It looks like you can touch it, just like it's real, but when you try to touch it you can't."

Elliot's body remained still, lying on the ground, feeling only numb both inside and out. He felt his body's retaliation begin to tire, and he was left only with emptiness. The two sat in silence, Gabe allowing Elliot to come to terms at his own pace, and Elliot just trying to comprehend.

Suddenly, Elliot turned over onto his belly to face Gabriel, "So you're dead too, right?"

"Yeah."

"For how long?"

"Dunno, what year is it?"

"Twenty-ten."

Gabe's eyes grew wide with what seemed like delight, "Really? Wow, time flies when you don't know what you're doing..."

"So? How long?"

"...Since Ninety-four. "Some ass holes thought it would be funny to lock me in the basement." explained Gabe, predicting Elliot's next question, "They tied me to one of those support beams and taped up my mouth." Gabe paused as his expression dropped, "I was down there for a week -- didn't even know a person could live that long without water or food. I can't even remember when it happened; when I died I mean. I just remember waking up in class -- English, Mrs. Ellen. The bell woke me up." Gabe snickered to himself, "It took my nearly two days before I realized something was wrong. Kinda weird how that is, huh? You don't even realize that you're not hungry, or that no one sees you, or even that you're not really breathing."

Elliot stood in front of Gabe, unsure of what to say -- if there even was something to say. His eyes fell to the ground, absorbing what had been said, what it meant. "Why are we still here?"

"What do you mean?" asked Gabe.

"Well, aren't we supposed to go to heaven or something?"

"Dunno, never been there." shrugged Gabe, "I've seen people disappear after they died, but that's only been adults."

Elliot became puzzled, and strangely interested, "Adults? What does that mean?"

"It means I've only seen adults go to the other side. For some reason, kids don't."

"That doesn't make any sense. Why do they get to go and we get stuck here?"

Gabe's tone became randomly frustrated, "No idea, okay? If I knew, I doubt I'd still be here." he then jumped up on the bench of the picnic table and began balancing on its beams, "Some adults don't go though... those are the ones you gotta watch out for -- they get pretty scary."

"Scary how?"

Gabe sighed, "It's not all fun-and-games on this side of the fence. We're not invincible, not exactly. Those `Adults' that don't move on, they're always evil -- or become evil. I'd stay away from them if I were you. They can really mess you up, and if you die here I doubt you wake up somewhere else."

"So what, they're like demons or something?"

"Something like that. They only exist to hurt you." Gabe jumped down from the bench, "Come on, forget about all that for now -- let's go have some fun."

* * 2 * *

Elliot followed Gabe back into the school, where they then entered the boys' bathroom. Gabe looked up at Elliot with a mischievous grin on his face, "See, just because we're dead, doesn't mean we can't have any fun."

Gabe approached a stall in the bathroom that had a closed door. Elliot could see feet against the floor inside. He watched as Gabe suddenly disappeared through the cubicle's door, Elliot waited. Suddenly the sound of gushing water echoed throughout the entire room followed by the screams of whoever was inside, other than Gabe.

Moments later, Gabe reappeared through the door. His face was red and his stomach was heaving dramatically as he laughed uncontrollably, "Dude." he said through his chuckles, "Did you know that the school's toilets can magically transform into bidets?" He then turned to watch as a boy, probably from grade nine, exited the toilet stall; his pants were soaked along with the lower half of his shirt.

"Dude, you're so cruel." decided Elliot, trying not to laugh.

"Meh." shrugged Gabe, "It's the power of invisibility, kinda gets me all worked up. Besides, a bit of torture adds character."

Elliot snickered as he watched the younger boy try to casually dry his pants under the hand dryer. Which was when a lost memory surfaced to Elliot's mind, "Hey," he said in a whisper, "Last year in gym class... I locked my bag up in the change room lockers, and when I came back -- my bag was filled with mashed potatoes -- was that you?"

"Couldn't have been." said Gabe without even thinking, "We can't carry stuff, like pick things up, only -- what's the word -- manipulate things. Like water, that's easy because it's moving. All you got to do is put your hand in it to change its flow. But stuff like bags and mashed potatoes we can't carry far enough. They just fall right through our hands." Gabe thought for a second, "Well... I guess it's possible, but it would take forever. Probably spend the day kicking the bowl down the hall just to get it anywhere near the gym."

Trying to make sense of this new found information, Elliot sat down next to a sink. Then, it hit him, "So-wait. If we can't pick things up because we go through them, then how am I sitting on this sink-thingy and not falling through it?"

"As far as I can tell, it's because you're not really sitting on it. Think about it, we don't weigh anything, we have no muscles, no physical anything's. So, you're probably not falling through because you're not really touching it -- you just think you are, get it?"

"No, I don't think." replied Elliot in flustered confusion.

"You will." Gabe then grinned as he watched an older boy from grade 12 enter the washroom, "Hey -- it's your turn." he suggested, sporting his trademark evil grin.

"I dunno," Elliot thought out loud, "I don't even know what to do."

"Well come on!" Gabe skipped to Elliot, "I'll show you. It's easy, you'll see."

Gabe waited as the boy approached a urinal then pulled Elliot towards him. "Damn, it would have been more fun if he went in the stall." he frowned, "Okay, well who cares. Come here." Gabe directed Elliot next to the boy, "Okay, all you gotta do is flush the toilet then shove your hand into the top of the bowl." Gabe pointed to the top of the bowl where the porcelain met the wall, "Go on; hurry up!" he urged.

Elliot squinted, trying not to look at the boy's hose as he relieved himself, and pushed his palm towards the urinal's handle, only to feel his hand fall right through it. "Not like that." chuckled Gabe, "Punch it!" Elliot sighed, threw back his arm, and then pushed it towards the urinal. He watched his hand pound itself directly through it and continue into the wall. A loud *FLOOOOSH* noise echoed and water began to spray out of the urinal, but as Elliot's hand continued deeper into the wall, feeling its coolness caressing his, skin?, the water suddenly sprayed out in a violent mist. It rapidly travelled across the washroom, covering the boy in its freezing fluid, showing no signs of stopping. In fact, it grew larger and became heavier. Gabe looked down at the porcelain bowl as it began to groan against the wall; then, it suddenly split in two and fell to the ground. The boy screamed as loud as he could while sliding away from the water's attack while the ninth grader, who was still drying his pants, chuckled involuntarily from the seclusion of the washroom's corner.

"Holy shit!" screamed Gabe, "Dude! Not so rough!" he chuckled in surprise, "You toasted it! Like completely destroyed it!"

Elliot looked to the ground in astonishment, "But... you said... I thought we couldn't do stuff like that!"

Gabe chuckled even louder, "I said we can't pick stuff up. I didn't say anything about breaking shit."

"Seriously? How? This is messed up..." Elliot struggled through with his thoughts, feeling an odd sense of power flowing through him, "That kicks ass!"

Gabe giggled at Elliot's new found enthusiasm, "Yeah, I guess it does... Well, unless you're Eric Brown." Gabe pointed to the boy in the corner. The older boy was standing in front of him, his fists clenched, obviously embarrassed by what had happened and enraged by the other boy's laughter.

"What yeah laughin' at?" said the older boy, hoping that Eric would say something stupid so he had even more excuse to beat the snot out of him.

"Nothing." squeaked Eric, the younger boy, "I'm sorry.. it's just -- that same thing happened to me just now."

The older boy seemed even more irritated by this knowledge, "So... you knew that shit was going to happen and you just let it?"

Eric lowered himself into the corner as the older boy got closer, "I'm sorry... I won't tell anyone what happened... I didn't mean to..." Eric screamed in pain as a foot pummelled into his ribcage, "AH!" he screamed. "I'm sorry!"

"You're what?" urged the older boy, kicking Eric again, harder.

"AH! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he screamed louder.

"Shut up!" demanded the boy.

Gabe watched Elliot's face bleed with guilt as he watched the older boy kicking the poor ninth grader, "Don't Elly, we're not supposed to interfere like that." he warned, but Elliot wasn't listening.

He ran towards the boy standing in front of Eric, and raised his arms to his chest then thrust his shoulder into the awaiting mass. The boy suddenly screamed as he awkwardly fell against the edge of the sink. Eric jumped to his feet and ran out the door, but Elliot didn't stop. He began to kick the older boy. First in the legs: causing him to fall to the ground, then in the stomach: causing him to call out in pain, and finally Elliot dropped the base of his foot to the boy's back: causing him to fall flat against the water-drenched floor.

"Fuck! Elliot STOP!" Gabe screamed and ran to Elliot's side to pull him back, "Don't! Seriously! Please-don't."

Elliot stared angrily at Gabe, whose face was filled of fear, "Why?!"

"Because that's how it starts -- it won't stop after that!" Gabe lowered his head and walked through the door, Elliot followed.

"How what starts?"

Gabe looked back at Elliot, right in the eyes, "The evil, Elliot. You don't want to go there."

"Evil? What evil? I was just helping that kid! That guy deserved it!"

"Yeah." Gabe sighed, his tone stressed, "But it brings the hate. Once you feel the power it holds, you don't come back, not from there."

"From where?"

"Remember I told you about what happens to the adults?"

"Yeah..."

"That's where. Hate is addictive, especially its power. I know what it's like, I feel it all the time, but if you let it go too far -- that's when it happens. The evil draws you in, and then you become part of it."

Elliot felt himself become even more confused but decided it best to leave the subject for now. Gabe obviously knew what he was talking about, so Elliot didn't think he should question it -- much. Just as he turned to walk with Gabe down the school's hall, Gabe froze, as did Elliot. The two looked to each other, a strange feeling swept over them, like the dampness of a cool winter's night. It consumed them, made them feel lonely, so lonely; soon followed by depression and anxiety. "Shit." hissed Gabe, "RUN!"

Gabe threw himself at Elliot and they slid down a long set of stairs. Elliot tried to scream, but the eerie feeling which seemed to have possession over his emotions would not allow for it. He followed Gabe down to the lower level of the school where all the shop classes were. "Gabe..." Elliot whispered, "...what's happening?"

"The Forgotten, they're coming." he said as if Elliot already knew.

"What?"

"SHHH!" urged Gabe as he pulled Elliot into the school's student kitchen. "Get in the freezer, they can't find us in there." Elliot did as he was told, pausing for only a moment as he stood before the freezer's door in contemplation, then Gabe pushed him through.

"Holy shit!" screamed Elliot, "That's messed up!" he looked down at his hands and examined his body, "What the hell?"

"Shh, keep it down." Gabe demanded, trying not to smile at Elliot's amazement, "You get used to that -- after a while you won't even notice it anymore."

Elliot looked to Gabe, then around the insides of the freezer: shelves stacked with frosted boxes, and chopped up animal limbs that hung in the far corner and surrounded with a plastic curtain. "So.." Elliot approached Gabe, "What exactly is going on?"

"The Forgotten. They're the hate, or the darkness -- where you go if you can't stay in control; where the adults go."

Elliot looked to the freezer door and sat down on a box, his hands cradling his face to his knees, "I'm not sure being dead is as much fun as I thought it was." He thought of all the times that he wished he were dead, wished he could just escape, and end all the pain and misery that made up his life. Now, he'd do anything just to get it back. He suddenly didn't care that his parents always fought with each other and ignored him, never cooked dinner, never bought him new clothes, always forgot his birthday; it all just seemed so trivial. He hadn't even been dead for a day and already he was so confused and scared that he no longer knew how to react. "How do we know when it's safe?"

Gabe looked back at Elliot, "You'll know. You can feel them -- it's kinda like a pull at your insides. We're connected, in a way -- I guess." He backed away from the door and sat next to Elliot against the freezer's wall, "I'm sorry Elliot. It's been a pretty rough day, huh? I shouldn't have rushed you into that stuff in the bathroom, not without telling you more about how things work now... I'm sorry."

"No. It's my fault. I should have thought. It's just, I started that; it was my fault. That guy wouldn't even have gone after that Eric kid if I didn't mess around back there."

*BEEP,BEEP,BEEP,BEEP,BEEP, BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...*

Elliot's neck stretched out and he looked around the room, "Can you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Gabe turned his head towards Elliot, his eyes bulging open, "Shit! Elliot!? What's happening?!"

"What?" Elliot looked down at himself, his hands were fading and his body was nearly transparent, then a strange pressure consumed his chest, "Gabe!" *BOOM* "Shit! Help!"

The entire room filled with fog, Elliot could hear Gabe's voice trailing off in the distance as he felt something pulling at him. Lights flashed from all around him. Fluttering within the smoke as his body spiralled at a speed once thought to be impossible.

*BOOM*

A heavy pressure was pressed against his chest. Everything was dark. He felt a cool, wet sensation against his side and sternum.

*BOOM*

Lights flashed, smoke trailed alongside of his vision. His eyes opened; a bright light floated above him followed by the whimpers of someone crying, someone familiar.

"Mom?" Elliot tried to speak, but found himself unable.

"Clear!"

*BOOM*

"Oh God! Elliot, come back to me! Oh God don't take my baby! ...Please don't take my baby." the pleading screams turned into whispering sobs.

*BOOM*

"Elliot! ...Shit, you were gone for hours! I was beginning to think you were never coming back."

Elliot heard Gabe's voice but it was faint, like a muffled whisper. He rolled onto his side, feeling like he were about to vomit. "Dude, what just happened? Where did you go?" Gabe interrogated, his voice drenched in loneliness and fear.

Turning his head to face Gabe, Elliot pressed his hands against his chest to where the strange pressure had been, "...Shit -- I'm still alive!"

"You're what?" replied Gabe through a gasp.

"Me... I was in a room, with my mom -- she was there, crying. And these paddles, they were shocking me -- I don't think I'm dead." Elliot's eyes glistened under moisture filled with a sheen of uplifting heat induced by emotion, "My mom -- she was crying -- she was there, and... She cares about me, she was crying!"

Gabe's face fell pale, he looked down toward the floor, "That's great man." he said softly.

Elliot could hear the hurt in Gabe's voice, "That doesn't sound so convincing."

"No really -- it's awesome man, really." Gabe stood back up and walked to the door, then walked right through it.

"Gabe wait-up!" Elliot ran through the door and into the hallway, looking in either direction of the hall for Gabe, "Gabe! Where'd you go?"

"Over here!" he shouted back. Elliot turned around to see Gabe still inside the kitchen, staring through the glass door of a refrigerator. Gabe didn't look once to Elliot, he just smiled half-heartedly, "You see those, right there?" he pointed at a large chocolate éclair, drenched with glaze and whipped cream all over it, "I would do anything just to be able to taste one of those again." he frowned then turned his head to look Elliot in the eyes, they were empowered with emotion, "I've been staring through these doors for more than fifteen years now. I've even sat in the fridge with the damned doughnut sitting inside of my head..." he looked to the ground then sighed, "I've seen so many people come and go around here. Most of them get taken by the Forgotten; it'll be nice to see someone going somewhere good for a change."

Suddenly Elliot realized what it was that Gabe meant, and he felt bad for not thinking of it sooner. "Gabe... I'm sorry." was all Elliot could think to say.

"Don't be sorry, Elliot. There's hope now." Gabe looked up at Elliot with a smile on his face, "When you go back, can you do me a favour?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Come here, and I mean right here. Open that damned door, and eat that God forsaken doughnut would yeah?"

Elliot giggled and looked over to the fridge, "It does look pretty good doesn't it."

"No shit -- it's an éclair!" Gabe smiled and leaned against the wall, "My mom used to make fresh baked doughnuts every weekend. Then we'd stay up late watching movies and pigging out together." his eyes became teary, "She was my best friend." He whispered as if the words, if spoken too loud, could break a person's heart.

"Gabe -- shit." Elliot fell back against the wall and thought for a moment, "Have you ever gone back home? You know, to go see her?"

"Pfft, no. I haven't made it off of the school grounds since I died." Gabe said in a huff.

"Why not?"

"I don't know... Whenever I get too far from here -- it feels like I'm being pulled back."

"Really? That's exactly how it felt when I got dragged back to my body." Elliot looked over to Gabe, their eyes became engulfed in a long and powerful gaze, "Gabe?"

"Yeah." he replied through a faint whisper.

"Did anyone ever find your body?"

Gabe turned from Elliot and hid his face as he rolled his palms against his eyes, "I don't know -- I've never gone back down there, not since it happened."

"Why not?"

Gabe stared at Elliot as if he had just asked the stupidest question ever, "Would you?" Elliot turned his head and looked at his feet against the floor.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

A long, nagging silence fell between them for what almost felt like days. The room was silent, with only the faint hums of the scattered refrigerators and coolers. A few grains of dirt blew across the floor, just passed their feet, when the air conditioning turned on. "I think we should go down there." suggested Elliot, nervously.

"Fuck that." Gabe snapped. He then stood and walked towards the door.

Elliot jumped up and quickly followed him, "Seriously? Aren't you at all curious?"

"Of course I am!" Gabe yelled, "I've wondered for years -- Sometimes I even stand outside that damn door and just stare at it -- but something always stops me from going in." Gabe then looked away from Elliot as if in shame, "It scares me." Gabe thought of what he must look like after all those years, if he were still strapped to that beam. He wondered why no one ever came looking for him, or why they hadn't heard his screams that had continued for days. He wondered why no one ever talked about him in the halls, or why his name was never announced regarding his disappearance during the school's assembly, just like they would do for anyone else; anyone important.

"But," Elliot stopped to try and map out his words, "what if that's why you're still here? Maybe you need closure."

"Ha! Closure?" Gabe screamed with sarcasm, "What kind of closure can I possibly get by seeing my own corpse, rotted and shrivelled against the very FUCKING pole that I DIED against? Tell me Elly, how is that closure?"

"I don't know!" Elliot stopped and walked away from Gabe, "I was only trying to help!"

Guilt rushed over Gabriel, enraged at his own disregard, "El! Elly-wait!" Gabe ran after him, feeling embarrassed by his anger, and grabbed Elliot by the shoulders "I'm sorry -- I am." Gabe twirled his finger against Elliot's shirt, "It's just... I've..." he sighed heavily and dropped his head, letting it bob a couple of times, "I've tried so hard to go down there, but I just can't. Just like I can't get off this property, or eat that fucken' doughnut," Elliot giggled behind a sniffle, "Look, if you promise..." Gabe smiled slightly, "That you'll go down there first, and warn me if it's too bad-a-sight, then I'll go. BUT after that, we gotta figure out a way to get you back into your body."

Elliot smiled and, without thinking, threw his arms around Gabriel, overpowered with emotion. However, in a moment's reflection, he thought of what he was doing and jolted backwards in embarrassment. He looked up at Gabe's face, soft of red, a smile on his face, and comfortable. They smiled at each other in an awkward shift of time, standing still. Elliot felt his face begin to blush, but instead of shying away, he swept his hair away from his eyes. "I'm sorry." he apologized, "I don't know why I did that."

Gabriel's face grew at the cheeks, a full set of pearly whites glistening in the light, his shoulder fell against a locker, and he crossed his arms over his chest as he closed his eyes. Elliot became confused, not only because of Gabe's reaction, but also because a tear was slowly trailing down his cheek -- Elliot wasn't aware that ghosts could cry; he drew a strange comfort from this. "No, it's okay," Gabe lifted his head and peered up towards the ceiling tiles, his face smeared behind a smile, and released a long breath of, what seemed like, air, "I haven't felt someone elses touch in so long -- not like that." his chin began to tremble, "It was nice."

A sensation, comparable only to that of glowing warmth, spread throughout Elliot's insides. He suddenly realized that Gabriel wasn't the carefree wild-child that he tried so desperately to portray. In fact, he was far from it. He looked at him and only saw loneliness and tragedy; how Elliot so desperately wanted to help him.

Then, something unexpected happened. Elliot's mind wandered from Gabe's persona and trickled its way to what was right in front of him. Gabriel: A boy, so young -- only 14, the tone of his skin so pale -- almost unhealthy but somehow looked so smooth, his eyes were the deepest shade of blue -- like they could tell an entire story in just one blink, so sad, so powerful.

"What?" Gabe asked, forcing Elliot back into the clutches of their reality.

Elliot shook his head softly and smiled shyly, "Sorry, I just... I dunno, sorry." Without thinking once again, Elliot leaned in towards Gabe, lifting his hand to Gabe's face, and wiped the single tear from where it had nestled itself against Gabe's cheek.

Gabriel giggled under his breath, "Thanks." He then pushed himself away from the lockers and walked to the centre of the hall, "So? We going to go traumatize me for life or what? ... er... Afterlife, I mean."

"We don't have to if you're not up for it." Elliot decided, not wanting to force Gabe into doing anything that he wasn't ready for.

"You know -- I've been avoiding this for nearly sixteen years now. I think it's time we get things rolling." Gabriel threw his arm around Elliot's shoulder and pulled his friend against him, "Besides, if you all of a sudden jump back into your body and don't come back, I'll just be stuck here for another sixteen years. Maybe you're right, maybe I do need to find closure, or whatever you want to call it."

"You sure?" Elliot tilted his head in Gabe's direction, sceptically.

"Yeah, just no doing any disappearing acts on me while we're down there, `cause I will crap my pants if you leave me."

"Uh... Gabe? I don't think we can crap."

"So... okay, ummm... it'll be a spiritual crap." Elliot just laughed and let Gabe guide him towards the door which led them to the school's basement.

They arrived a lot quicker than Gabriel had thought. The two just stood in front of the door blindly reading the sign `RESTRICTED: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY' in big, black bold print, surrounded by black and yellow stripes. Elliot looked deep into Gabe's eyes and saw his fear bubbling through his pores. "You sure you're ready for this?" asked Elliot, letting Gabe know that he was completely in charge.

Gabriel didn't reply. Instead, he puffed out his chest and stepped forward, placed his hand against the metal of the door, and then slid through; Elliot quickly followed.

Their surroundings were filled of darkness, accompanied by an eerie hollow sound, like something dripping through a pipe. Gabriel slid his hands on either side of himself, hoping to find a switch; Elliot cheekily lifted his hand and pulled the chain, Gabriel just looked back at him when the lights buzzed to life, his face pale as ice, and continued down the grated-metal stairs. Gabe guided Elliot down a long corridor, until they found another set of stairs. Elliot passed Gabe, noticing his hesitance, and wrapped his fingers around Gabriel's hand. They followed the twirling stairs as far as they led, but when they reached the bottom, as Elliot reached for the light, Gabriel grabbed at Elliot's hand. "Wait!" he pleaded, "Not yet."

"We're here?" Elliot nearly kicked himself for saying something so dimwitted.

"Yeah, well not here." Gabe took Elliot's arm and pointed it off into the darkness, "That way, about twenty feet in, there's a room with a huge metal door."

"Do you want to wait here?" offered Elliot.

"No. I just... I don't know -- just turn on the lights." Elliot did as he was asked, and the lights flickered weakly as they strained against their sudden interruption; they probably hadn't been turned on since back in 1994.

Gabriel's grip on Elliot's hand became tighter as he felt himself being pulled toward the lonely room at the end of the corridor. The walls were stained with filth and mould. Pipes creaked and groaned in a portrayal of their age. A heavy feeling encircled Gabe's entirety, and suddenly he could go no farther. Elliot felt a tug at his arm, and he turned to see Gabriel fall down to his knees. "Gabe? You okay?"

Gabriel gazed upward, fear corroding his face and vocalizing his thoughts for him. Elliot lowered to a crouch and placed his hand on his friends shoulder, "Just wait here okay?"

"No." whispered Gabe, "It's there. I can feel it."

Elliot looked towards the room, suddenly becoming unsure himself if he was readied enough to enter. He looked down at Gabriel and hoped to find some form of answer to what he was supposed to do next. Their eyes lingering in the solitude of their gaze, Gabriel forced his perched body upward and rose to his feet. He couldn't speak. His voice had fallen deep down to the pit of his very existence, cowering from its obligations.

Finding Elliot's hand, Gabriel grasped it, holding it firmly against his own, and pulled his friend closer. They slowly began to move forward, watching every step they took as if it were to be their last. The door was slowly growing, making it appear as if it were it were alive. A sudden shiver crawled up Gabriel's spine as Elliot reached out for the door with their eyes still locked to the others. Elliot stopped to wait for Gabriel to protest the corresponding action, but there was none.

Elliot attempted to turn the handle of the door, only to watch his hand fall through it. He looked at the door and slowly leaned into it. He could feel the strange cool yet tingling sensation spread up his arm and across his body as the two melted through the door.

The darkness made it impossible to see, Gabriel had immediately fallen to the ground upon entrance, and Elliot was hesitant to leave his friends side to search for a light. He could feel that strange beating in his chest; the same feeling which caused him so much confusion in accepting this bizarre yet oddly-congruent existence.

"Okay. I'm ready." announced Gabriel, "Turn on the lights."

Elliot reluctantly released Gabriel's hand and moved back to the wall, moving his hands up and down against its tingling abnormality. Just as he was about to give up, he heard the sound of a click and the lights flickered -- and continued to do so. He heard a scream, which was loud enough to shatter one's heart, and spun around to face Gabriel -- and his remains. If Elliot had possessed a physical stomach, he would have succumbed to its retching and erupted with its most vile of discharge across the floor, yet he was plagued only with its overpowering urge. Before him, tied to large support beam, lay the powdery, dried-rot of what used to be his friend. Elliot found his self captivated by its grotesque display of agony and instantly became ashamed of his thoughts. He dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around the shattered boy, his cries howling throughout the room, and wrapped his arms around him. His embrace was met with pulling arms, as if Gabriel was trying to climb from the pits of his own remorse.

Elliot placed his hand against the back of Gabe's head and pulled him close, against his chest. Emotion penetrated the surface of whatever their `skin' was called, flooding from one to another as if their individuality had no beginning or end -- they felt as one and deemed at that.

After an uncountable amount of time, Gabriel's sobs turned into subtle whimpers. Elliot felt him turning his upward, and turned down to meet his gaze. "What do we do now?" Gabriel whispered through a broken voice.

"I don't know." Elliot admitted, while trying to think of their next step, "We need to figure out how to get someone down here."

Gabriel remained silent in thought, his head slowly panning the room. His eyes became transfixed to the ceiling and he rose to his feet. Elliot watched as Gabriel circled the room and settled his footing in its centre. "What?" asked Elliot, attempting to fathom Gabriel's thoughts.

"Look." Gabriel pointed upward, "Come here."

Elliot did as he was told. He stood next to Gabriel and peered up to the ceiling. There, protruding from an old, half-rusted pipe was a fire sprinkler. Elliot immediately knew what Gabriel had in mind and dropped onto all fours. Gabriel placed a foot on Elliot's back, then another, and lifted his reach towards the jagged contraption; he swung his arm through the pipe, a long grown escaped it, followed by a squeal. Gabriel repeated his actions; the pipe squealed and rattled from its dormancy then sudden erupted with the sounds of hissing water. First it was brown, but soon the water became clear and fluent. The filth across the floor rippled in the swirling liquid, and the walls appeared as if they were melting. Only a moment later, a loud, ear piercing melody echoed from all around them.

The fire alarm rang with all its might, chiming and flowing throughout the walls of the entire building. It seemed to continue forever, unending to the point that either boy no longer cowered from its blaring jingle. They just huddled together, in the corner of the room and waited.

"Hey Chief! I think I found it, over here!"

Gabriel leapt to his feet when he heard the approaching voices and footsteps. He couldn't keep himself still and had to pace in circles around the room -- only stopping when the silhouette of a man appeared at the opening of the doorway. "Don! -- Shit! -- come here!"

Gabriel listened carefully as a set of footsteps sped towards the room then stopped as they entered, "Holy shit." whispered Don, who then removed his helmet, "Josh!" he looked back through the door, "Go back and call in the police!" The men slowly approached Gabriel's body, both unable to speak.

It took less than two hours for the police to arrive, take pictures, collect anything they felt to be important, and finally -- release Gabriel from the torment of his bindings. As they carried the body from the room Gabriel followed them, his face impossible to read. He looked both happy and sad at the same time with something else hidden somewhere in between, relief perhaps.

"Gabriel?" Elliot place his hand on his friends shoulder, "You all right?"

Gabriel nodded his head as he watched the remaining vehicles disappear in the streets. He then turned to Elliot and fell into him, embracing him as tight as he could manage. Elliot returned the emotion and wrapped his arms around Gabe's waist. "Thank you Elliot -- you're the best thing that's ever happened to me." They then drifted into the comfort of silence. The same silence you can hear when listening to the sound of an infant in slumber: its innocence, comfort, peace and trust; unknowing and unconcerned with anything other than the moment, and entrapped by its powerful lure.

Part Three

The night became day, their bodies still beside each other, sprawled on the grass, watching the sunlight obliterate all the evil with its blatant supremacy. A new found comfort came to them both, a feeling of hope and choice. Gabriel felt free for the first time in his eternity; Elliot felt something new, unnameable glowing beneath his chest. Something he had never felt before -- it burned and grew, like a blossoming lily reaching out for the sun's warmth.

One day. A day can last a lifetime, and its memory an eternity. So much in so little time has changed, both unsure of what to think or feel; unable to speak -- not sure of what to say. They didn't need to speak, they knew that words could only portray a mere fraction of what they felt and deemed it unnecessary to squander its secrecy.

Soon after, students began arriving at the school. Unwilling to move from where they lay, Elliot began to giggle as the feet of passing people trod right through him. He'd look back at them after their intrusion of his body as they continued towards the school swatting at their ankles. "What do you suppose it feels like to them when the touch us?" Elliot enquired as he turned his head to Gabriel.

"I dunno, probably the same thing we feel when we pass through them."

Elliot accepted this answer and stared back up at the clouds. Enjoying the liberating feeling of being able to lie in the streets and not be questioned for reasoning. "Gabe?"

Gabriel sighed with a gentle smile on his face and turned to his friend, "Yeah?"

"We should go on a walk."

"Where?"

"Does it matter? You haven't been off this property in like forever. Maybe we should go see your mom?" Elliot watched Gabriel's expression closely to try and read his reaction on his face.

"I dunno -- I'm not sure I'm ready for another emotional rollercoaster just yet." Gabriel thought quietly for a few minutes while gazing up at the sky, "Do you think there are doughnuts in heaven?"

Elliot's face instantly cracked into a smile and he rolled over in a humorous cackle, "Shit I don't know. You'd think they would -- I mean -- it's heaven right? What kind of heaven doesn't have doughnuts?"

"Good point." Gabriel agreed, "I think you might be right about all this closure stuff." he decided out loud and turned back to look at Elliot, "Ever since last night... I don't know it's like I'm lighter now -- happier." Elliot's expression suddenly dropped and he rolled onto his back to look at the sky.

"Gabe?"

"Yeah?"

"What happens after?"

"What do you mean?"

"After you leave this place and I go back to life. What happens to us?"

Gabriel cocked his head to the right, facing Elliot, with his eyebrow twitching against his hairline, "I don't follow."

Elliot rolled onto his side to face Gabriel and attempted to twirl his fingers in the grass, "I mean you're the only friend I've got. I don't want to lose you, already.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere. If I do get to crossover I'll wait for you on the other side." Gabriel then sat up, "You still have the chance at a life. Don't give that up, not for me; not for anyone." he then stood up and pulled Elliot to his feet, "Besides, you can't live forever, and I don't want to see you until you're like 95 and all wrinkled and shit."

"Gross. I hope I don't live that long." said Elliot with a shiver.

"Why not? You only live once right? Wear those wrinkles with pride! Because with every drooping flap of skin is another year you had to enjoy life, and now that you've been here, I'm sure you can appreciate it." Gabriel walked towards the street that led away from the school, "Are you coming?" he grinned back at Elliot, "We got a whole world to mess with now."

Elliot shook his head at Gabriel's mischievous grin, and then rolled his eyes as Gabe rolled his fingertips together, just like a scheming mad-scientist. "Okay, wait up!"

Stopping at the curb, Gabriel edged his toes to its end and looked down at the street. He then directed his gaze up at Elliot and smiled as he threw out his arms arm let his body lean into the road. His feet made contact with the concrete, his chest suddenly becoming light, as he turned back at the school and wished it farewell.

"I don't ever want to go back there." he announced, his freedom liberated throughout his voice.

Elliot snickered and reached for Gabriel's hand, "And you'll never have to."

The two boys walked side-by-side and hand-in-hand down the sidewalk, farther and farther from the school's memory. Cars sped by, ignorant in their own existence, and people swept passed them, lost in their own oblivion. They seemed so separated from reality, so unaware. They seemed to lack the ability to comprehend the significance of what they were, the power that they possess. However, Gabriel and Elliot knew better. They knew what they had, and refused to let one moment fall to waste. Gabriel would occasionally stop and attempt to smell the scent of the leaves that grew upon the woven bushes as they past them, only to be directed to a memory of how he recalled them to smell. Elliot, however, was not as enthralled with the vegetation so much as he found himself drawn to the privilege of being able to experience these moments with his new found friend.

"Oh God..." whined Gabe, "I wish I could just inhale this things scent again." He watched his hand glide through buds of a lilac, "You don't realize how important these things are until you can't do them anymore -- Oh! Look at that!"

Elliot whipped his head around, toward the street, to see a tiny Smart Car silently rolling down the street, "What? The stupid car?"

"Yeah -- look at it! It's tiny... and... it doesn't make a noise!"

"Of course not. It's an electric car."

Gabriel looked at Elliot blankly, "Cars don't run on gas anymore?"

"Yeah, they do. Only some of them don't. Usually only tiny ones like that though... shit, how long did you say you were cooped up in that place?"

"Too long." Gabriel's eyes grew large once more, and he ran down the street in excitement, "Elly! Come check this out!"

Elliot ran towards Gabriel who was standing inside a bus shelter staring at a movie poster's advertisement, "Dude, we gotta go see a movie!" Gabriel backed away from the poster and hopped out into the streets, "Where's the nearest theatre?"

Elliot felt his whole body grow numb with fear as he stared at the street where Gabriel was standing, "GABRIEL!" Elliot bolted towards Gabriel, "LOOK OUT!"

Gabriel looked to his right to see a large semi speeding right towards him. Elliot cringed in fear as he watched in dread. Gabriel just stared blankly at Elliot's stupidity, "What?" asked Gabriel as the massive road warrior darted right through him. Elliot dropped to his knees, the burden of anxiety sweating from his pores. "Still adjusting huh." Gabriel snickered as he calmly walked back to Elliot, "So? How about this movie?"

Elliot rolled his eyes in angst and climbed to his feet. "There's one downtown, but it's a pretty long walk from here. We should try and catch a bus or something."

Gabriel just smiled again and walked down the street. "Come on dummy." he chuckled.

Elliot followed Gabriel to a set of street lights, where they then stopped and stood at the corner. Gabriel stared up at the lights, watching them carefully. Elliot stood, patiently awaiting explanation. Soon, the light switched from green to amber, "Follow me!" demanded Gabe, "Quick!"

Doing as he was told, Elliot carefully ran into the street, sifting between the slowing cars. He watched Gabriel curiously as the boy casually stuck his head inside the vehicle, "Elly! This one!" Elliot gasped as he saw Gabriel jump inside the car and sit down in the back seat, and then raced to catch up before the light turned green.

"What are you doing?" Elliot whispered, sitting in the back of a very nice looking Sedan, while an older man sat in the front singing VERY merrily to "Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons - Walk Like A Man"

"Hitchin' a ride, what's it look like?" he chuckled while shifting his body side to side and pointing his fingers one at time as he danced with the, unknowing, man up front, "Catchy beat, huh?"

Elliot couldn't help but to laugh -- and feel slightly embarrassed at the same time. Because, for the first time in his entire life he actually found someone who could pass as cute; not only the amusing sense but also something more. He watched his friend bounce around and sing, even more so when the song turned to "Big Girls Don't Cry", and felt his smile stretch so wide that he feared it would tear his muscles, if he had muscles. Then, he noticed something more to Gabriel; something that wasn't there before. It shone through his eyes as visible as the sun itself. They seemed brighter somehow, truer, like he was actually happy. Elliot did it, he smiled even wider and could no longer contain his happiness when he wrapped his arms around the singing boy and held him tight. Gabriel just smiled and patted his back while continuing to sing along with the elderly man in the front.

"Thanks for the ride!" Gabriel shouted as they walked out of the vehicle as it sat at another red light, only a few blocks from the theatre. Elliot giggled as he watched Gabriel waving off the oblivious man. "So? How much farther?"

"Just down the street." promised Elliot as he led Gabe through the doors of the mall.

"Well then why are we going in here?" Gabe asked in confusion.

"Because it's a short cut."

That answer had satisfied Gabriel and he followed Elliot, almost, obediently. They quietly walked through the mall, Gabriel soaking in all the strange new sights, and Elliot enjoying seeing Gabe experiencing everything all over again, for the first time. It was strange to Elliot seeing someone's reaction to the things he had already become accustomed to. Kind of like travelling back in time and bringing someone back with you; though, in a way -- it was.

Shortly after, the two arrived at the theatre. The moment they entered Gabriel gasped in almost a giggle, "What?" asked Elliot, curiously.

"This is the old Empire theatre isn't it?" whispered Gabe, "Shit -- this place hasn't changed at all." he kicked his feet to the floor, "Even still has the same carpets."

"Really? That's kinda gross isn't it?" Elliot decided as he shuffled his foot against the carpeting.

"Shut up, it's not that old!" Gabe chuckled.

"I dunno..." Elliot attempted to suppress a grin, "That does mean they're at least 16 years old." Elliot then stopped as his mind suddenly realized something, "Hey..." he started uncomfortably, unsure if his words would hurt Gabriel somehow, "You died before I was even born."

Gabriel stopped in his tracked and thought for a moment "No I didn't... When were you born?"

"October twelfth ninety-four."

Gabriel just stared blankly at Elliot and started to walk towards a pair of doors. "Gabe. Gabe! Come-on stop! Gabe, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything, okay?"

"It's just a coincidence." Gabe said through an unexpected sniffle.

"What? ...What's a coincidence?" Gabriel just walked into the empty theatre and climbed up to the back row. "Gabriel?" Elliot stared Gabriel right in the eyes, afraid to know, but unable to let it go.

Gabriel peered up at Elliot, his eyes pleading in fear, "Promise you won't freak out okay?"

Elliot looked down at Gabriel who had sat down one of the theatre's chairs, "I promise."

Gabriel looked deep into Elliot's eyes, trying to see if he could read any doubt within their glimmer, "You were born the day after I died." Elliot stood in thought for what Gabe felt to be an eternity, "Well? Say something."

"You're right..." Elliot's voice cracked, "That's got to be coincidence right?" he turned and sat down next to Gabriel "I mean, if it were on the same day I'd be really freaked out, but the day after -- that's got to be coincidence."

"Yeah -- that's right." Gabe said plainly, but his eyes spoke differently.

"Still, it is kind of spooky, huh?"

"That's a bit understated, but yeah."

As the two waited, and people slowly gathered, for the movie to start, Elliot and Gabriel sat in silence. Both enjoying each others company, and dwelling upon their eerie discovery. However, as the lights faded and the curtains were drawn, they found a new comfort; a comfort which could only manifest during circumstance and silence.

They slowly melted into their seats as the screen came to life before their eyes. Gabriel's astonishment towards the world's advancements in special effects was enough to keep Elliot amused throughout his fifth viewing of "Daybreakers". He watched Gabe's face as it shifted from intrigued to terrified, in a matter of seconds, and found his self addicted to learning each and every one of Gabe's emotions as they played out upon his expression.

Gabriel had snuggled in against Elliot's shoulder as a result of his random spasms, induced by the magic of a movie's fear. The precise moment was not certain, but at some point, Gabe had woven his fingers into Elliot's. Their hands pressed firmly together. Elliot felt himself drawn towards him. Eventually finding the courage to rest his head on Gabriel's shoulder, he nuzzled his cheek comfortable into his shoulder as the strange warmth, his very energy that he was made of, soaked deep into his own. For a brief moment, Elliot even thought that he could smell Gabe's scent; its comfort was overwhelming and induced a sense of humanity, something that he hadn't experienced even when he was alive. *BEEP* "Shit."

*Beep*

Gabriel moved to his left and lowered his head, "What?"

*BEEP*

"I think it's happening again."

*BEEP*

"What? What's happening again?" Then Gabriel saw what Elliot was trying to say, "Shit! Elliot no! No not yet!" *BEEP* "Elliot, please. Don't leave me, not yet."

*BEEP* *BEEP* BEEP* BEEP* *BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...*

Elliot screamed and grabbed his chest; it felt tight and constricted, as if something were crushing his ribcage. *BOOM* Elliot's body involuntarily leapt into the air, "FUCK"

"Clear!" ...*BOOM*

Gabriel fell from his chair and crawled in front of Elliot as he disappeared right before his eyes, "Elliot! No, not yet..."

*BOOM*

"We've got a pulse!"

Elliot felt weak, soar, and dizzy. His entire body ached, the room smelt of rubber and sanitizer, "What's happening?" he moaned, his body soaked in sweat. The room was bright, and strange voices accompanied by even stranger noises echoed against his ears.

"Elliot!" screamed a familiar voice, "He's awake!" Elliot felt someone grab at his hand, squeezing it tight, too tight. "My boy, oh God, Elliot."

"Mom?" whispered Elliot through a dry, raspy throat.

"Yes my baby..." Elliot heard her sniffle, "...it's Mom." her voice deepened by the syllable until it became a mere wheezed breath.

"Where's Dad?"

"He's gone -- for good. Don't worry about him. Just rest." Elliot felt a tear drop fall against his cheek, and he looked up to see his mother crying above him with the light reflecting through her hair.

Elliot smiled, "Mom," he whispered, "you look like an angel."

"Elliot?" Samantha jumped to her feet, "Nurse! He's..." she watched her son's eyes rolling into the back of his head, "Elliot! NO! Elliot! Don't leave me!"

*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE....*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*

"Elliot!"

Elliot jumped from his chair and clawed at his shirt as if he were being attacked by an invisible creature, "Shit!" he looked around in confusion; at the rows of chairs, the broad aisles, and then Gabriel.

"Elliot! Shhh, shhh, it's okay -- I'm here, I'm right here." Gabriel wrapped his arms around Elliot's and pulled him back down to his seat, "It's okay."

"No, it's not okay." Elliot's dropped his face into his waiting hands, "I didn't want to come back -- not at first -- then I didn't want to stay. God! What's the matter with me?"

Gabriel stared into Elliot's eyes, trying to understand, but knew he'd be rendered unable. Instead, Gabriel pulled Elliot down, so he was sitting next to him on the floor, and pulled his head against his chest; which is where they stayed, together, in the silence.

Elliot felt Gabriel's fingers sweeping through his hair and tickling his scalp with his touch. As he placed his hand on Gabe's knee and moved his head to look up at him, his stomach suddenly began to knot and twist, followed by a familiar sense of loneliness and despair. "Don't move." warned Gabriel, "Not yet."

A hollowed clicking sound wisped throughout the theatre, followed by a blast of cool, dry air. Elliot felt his arms becoming numb, when he looked down at them a strange, wiry black abnormality wove like creeping vines up his limbs, "Gabe." Elliot whispered sternly, "There's something on my arm."

"Don't move." he urged, his voice filled of power.

"Gabe... It's growing." Elliot watched as the creature spread and wrapped itself against his arms, causing them to feel dry and sticky underneath it.

"Don't move."

"Gabe..."

"Don't..." Gabriel heard Elliot shriek as if he had just endured the most excruciating pain, and he flung his body back against the ground.

A loud hissing noise erupted from the surrounding walls, piercing their ears so deeply that they would have bled if they were amongst the living. "Fuck! Elliot RUN!" cried Gabriel.

Elliot's eyes bulged as he looked up at Gabriel; his entire body was covered with the same woven darkness that was on Elliot's arm. Gabriel shoved Elliot forward and then pulled him up to his feet as the crashed through the theatre's wall. The lights throughout the entire building flickered at such an insane speed that a strobe light would hide in embarrassment. Fluorescent bulbs began to burst, one after the other, Gabriel grabbed Elliot's sleeve and pulled him into the theatre's storage room. Elliot could have sworn he could hear their hearts beating a million beats per second. Gabriel's head shot from side to side, searching for a means of escape. "What do we do?" whispered Elliot as he swiped at his blackened arms.

"Either we find a freezer or we run... I don't see a freezer, do you?" Gabriel had meant the question to actually sound sincere; however, it had come across as insulting.

Elliot dropped his head to the floor, "I'm sorry -- again." he turned his head away from Gabriel, "I'm going to get us killed -- Fuck! I keep screwing everything up."

Gabriel pulled Elliot's shoulder once again and snapped his motionless sulk into a sudden sprint. He pushed and shoved at Elliot's back while guiding him out of the building and into an alley. "Don't stop running! Get into the daylight -- they won't get us there!" he directed while running in behind Elliot.

Feeling his insides churn and quarrel against his outsides, Elliot stumbled and shrieked as he attempted to keep up a steady pace; running was never something he was good at. "Elliot! There! Keep going!" Gabriel sped up and grabbed Elliot's hand as he passed him. The high pitched screaming thumped and crashed directly in behind them as its cold lure urged them to slow.

"Gabe! I can't!" Elliot warned as his pace screamed to a near halt.

"Yes you can!" Gabriel turned back to Elliot, his face dropped from red to a pale white in a fraction of a second. "Elliot!" Gabriel dove towards Elliot, tackling him through a brick wall and into the main floor of a discount store. Elliot moaned as Gabriel dragged him up to his feet, "Stop! Elliot! That's not you! You can keep going. Don't give into it -- GO!"

Elliot felt Gabriel's foot press into his back as he was then forced towards a rack of women's pyjamas. He twisted around and glared back at Gabriel, just in time to see his friend jump back through the wall. Elliot froze in terror; what had he done? His feet suddenly began to move without his consent. He dove for the wall and rolled to the other side. When he regained his balance, he looked up to see Gabriel running towards the street. The Forgotten's blackened grasp entangling at his ankles and causing him to fall to the ground. "Gabe!"

Before Elliot knew what he was doing, he had his arms wrapped around Gabriel's wrists. Pulling with all his might, he looked deep into his friend's eyes, only to see emptiness; a pale glaze swept across his iris as if he had become blind. Elliot, unsure of what else to do, released Gabe's wrist and slapped him hard across the face, "GABE!"

I whimper escaped Gabriel's throat, and Elliot pulled even harder. As if by chance, the two flew backwards and rolled to the ground; Gabriel lay, unmoving. A flood of light consumed the ally as a cloud released the sun's rays. A heartbreaking squeal emerged from deep within the beasts darkened mass, like it was in excruciating pain. Clouded smoke spread like fog, disappearing as quickly as it came, and Elliot pulled Gabriel into his arms.

They laid in silence; Elliot out of fear, and Gabriel out of exhaustion. With the weight of limp friends body over top of him, Elliot's hands swept across Gabe's back to reassure himself that Gabe was, in fact, really there. It wasn't a sound that grabbed Elliot's attention, but instead a movement; Gabriel's arms curled inward and slid underneath his friend's neck and pulled him close. Elliot felt Gabriel's cheek gently smooth its way across his own, and felt his face drawn towards it. Without so much as a thought, Elliot's lips pressed firmly to Gabriel's temple where he then placed a soft, long kiss against his warm skin. Gabriel didn't react, nor did he move -- not like Elliot had feared. Gabriel nestled his chin in against Elliot's shoulder, right at the curve of his neck, then pressed his own lips into the boy's smooth surface.

A heavy feeling flowed through them both, accompanied by the strangest rhythm, pounding from deep within. It was so sudden that it almost scared them. It carried the melody of a heartbeat. Only it was something more, like electricity pulsating within the confines a glass bulb. Gabriel's head moved, but his eyes remained closed -- unsure of himself. The tip of his nose caressed from the centre of Elliot's cheek to the side of his nostril where their lips gently grazed. Insecurity and impatience consumed his yearning soul, as Gabriel's lips fell upon Elliot's. It was slow and subtle, but the feeling carried a power so strong that it became overwhelming. A sudden obsession took control as their lips parted. Gabriel's gasping mouth enclosed itself around Elliot's lower lip with a pressure so careful that it felt like nothing more than a dampened touch.

The warmth of Elliot's body below him generated a heat like no other. It pulled him closer, yet made him feel as though he weighed nothing at all. Nothing made sense, but everything came together. It bound them in a secret place; a place known only to them, their own world built upon a single moment. Nothing else mattered, yet everything caused concern. For just a moment, they were free. No longer were they trapped in the rules of the world. They felt alive, more alive than they had ever felt when they were living. They could feel, breathe, and even smell as though their bodies were surging with the heated flow of life.

*BEEP*

Elliot's eyes shot open.

*BEEP*

He wrapped his arms as tight as he could around Gabriel's body.

*BEEP*

"Gabriel..."

*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...*

"...Don't leave me."

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Part Four

Elliot's entire body jolted to life, he felt his muscles tear at his sudden movement as he shot to an upright position. His eyes blurred and his surrounding obscured, he fell back to the stiff bed to where he lay. "We got him!" announced the voice an unfamiliar woman "Elly, can you hear me?" Elliot only moaned through his coarse, dry throat.

"Elliot, do you know where you are?" questioned a different voice, a man's voice: deep yet soothing.

Elliot shook his head in the unclear manner of a daze. "Elly," the softness of the woman's voice returned, "you're in St. Michael's Hospital. Do you know where that is?"

"No." Elliot replied to the obscured form above him, "What did you call me?"

The woman's face tilted to the left and she leaned down towards Elliot, "You're in Toronto. Do you know where that is?"

Elliot felt insulted by the question's stupidity and dismissed it altogether, "Who are you?"

"Nurse Williams, but you can call me Jane."

Elliot felt strange inside, this woman was so familiar -- her words and her tone, her name, Williams... "Did you call me Elly?"

The woman slowly came into focus as she turned and fiddled with the IV next the bedside, "Yup." she admitted in a soothing tone of amusement, "Would you prefer I didn't?" Jane then wrote something on a clipboard and placed it on a table.

"No -- it's fine." Elliot stopped to think, everything about this woman seemed so familiar, like he knew her somehow. Then, it hit him just like a slap to the face. His heart skipped with adrenaline as his blood gathered in his cheeks, "Did you say you're name was Williams?" he paused as Jane turned back around to face him, and let his thoughts brew to the surface, "Gabe Williams?"

Jane's expression transformed to something indescribable. She was both pale and red at the same time; anxiety could be seen bleeding through her skin in the form of perspiration as it spread across her body in a lustre of hurt, "What did you say?" she whispered so softly that Elliot could barely make out her words.

Elliot felt his throat clog, unable to think of the right words to explain what he was trying to say, "Your son... I know you... he's with me." Jane stood, not moving. Elliot couldn't even tell if she was still breathing. She just stood, stiffened by her own emotions. Elliot became light headed, and the room began to spin. *Be-beep, be-beep, be-beep* his eyes rolled back into his head as he gasped for air, *BE-BEEP-Be-BEEP- BE-BEEP-Be-BEEP- BE-BEEP-Be-BEEP-BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...*

His eyes opened in a flutter of panic; Elliot screamed and rolled onto his stomach, his head whipping around in all directions, "Gabriel!" he sprung to his feet and ran out from the ally, into the street. "Gabriel!" The streets glowed under the massive yellow lights from above, "GABRIEL!" The night collected his expelling tone and spun it around in its wind.

"Elliot?"

Spinning around, Elliot's eyes fell upon the form belonging to his friend, his Gabriel. "Gabriel!" running towards the boy, Elliot's heart sank as Gabriel's expression penetrated through his very being: his face was pale and raw; his eyes were red and filled with sadness.

Gabriel walked from the shelter of shadows where he had been hiding, and cautiously stepped into the light of the street. His arms swung out from his sides as Elliot fell into his embrace. "I thought I lost you... You didn't come back." he cried, dropping his head on Elliot's shoulder.

Elliot wrapped his arms around the sobbing boy, placing his left hand behind his head and holding him close, "I found her Gabe." he stroked his fingers through Gabriel's hair, "At the hospital, I found her."

Gabriel didn't want to move. He didn't want to disturb his comfort, but the question lingered heavy against his mind, "Who?"

"Your mom." whispered Elliot, his tone lifting in pitch and drowning in emotion.

Gabriel pushed away from Elliot and looked into his eyes, "Where?" was all he could manage to say, unsure if he had heard Elliot's words correctly.

"She's a nurse at St. Michael's Hospital -- My nurse."

Gabriel stepped away from Elliot in disbelief. How could he not? It was impossible; his mom didn't work. She stayed home and baked doughnuts and popped popcorn while hording movies and books. She wrote silly poems and stories and had her family act them out on Saturday afternoons... "No." Gabriel contested "It can't be her -- she's afraid of hospitals."

Elliot became confused; he had thought his news would make Gabriel happy. "It's her. I know it's her. Jane -- Jane Williams. It was her Gabe, I know it was her."

"How could you know that?" Gabriel turned and twirled his fists randomly at his sides through the effects of an uncertain emotion. He stopped and thought, his mind surging against his nerves, "How Elliot? How could this be an accident?"

"What do you mean?" replied Elliot, unable to make out Gabriel's direction.

"Me, you, us? How could this be coincidence? How could you be born the day after I die? How did you end up at the same school where I went -- where I was? How are you even here? You're not even dead!" Gabriel spun with his mind, just trying to keep up, "I... you? ...This is all insane."

Elliot watched as Gabriel slapped his hands against his sides and fell down to the ground where he sat cross-legged, with his hands weaving back through his hair while he attempted to regain control of himself. "Gabe..." Elliot approached the broken boy and lowered to his knees in front of him. Placing his hands on either of Gabe's shoulder, he stared until his eyes were met, "She called me Elly."

Gabriel's eyes began to water, and his pale face turned red as tears streamed freely down his cheeks. Then, surprising himself, he smiled and a soft giggle escaped through a sniffle, "She did, huh?" Gabriel's knees rose upward and his feet slid inward as he pushed his hands back through his hair and giggled once again. He looked up to Elliot while wiping his eyes dry, "She wrote that you know."

Elliot's face crinkled with a smile, as he waited to hear more, "What?"

"Elliot's Grand Adventure." he quoted proudly, "We always told her she should send it in to get published -- Everyone called him Elly, for short." Gabriel snickered in a half snort, "He hated the nickname too. Kind of scary how much you two are alike; the character and you, I mean." he looked up at Elliot's intrigued, yet blank expression, "It's kind of like I knew you before we even met. You even look exactly how I pictured him. Except in the story, he was 13, but you do look close to that age..." Gabriel smiled, "Sorry."

Elliot's mind was flipping about in his head, he wasn't sure what to make of all this, or of anything for that matter, "I guess that explains the weird way you were looking at me when we met... But why didn't you tell me?"

Gabriel snickered, "Would you? You would have thought I was nuts."

Elliot chuckled, "I still think you're nuts. Doubt it would'a made a difference."

"Gee, thanks." Gabriel reached out and pulled Elliot down into his arms, "So where is this place?"

"St. Michael's Hospital -- I'm pretty sure it's near Lake Ontario."

"And where are we?"

Elliot looked around briefly, "North York, near Hollywood Park -- it's probably an hour's drive from here, at least."

Gabriel looked down the street -- one way then the next. "It could take hours to find a ride at this time of night, especially all the way across town."

"Well, let's start walking then..." Elliot began to walk down the street then paused, "Shit, which way do we go?"

Gabriel snickered with a shrug of his shoulders, "Not a clue."

"Well damn..." Elliot trailed off into thought, "Wait, if we can make it to Hollywood Park, there's a map of Toronto near a bus stop. I remember it from when my grandpa got us lost after visiting the library -- at least I hope it's still there."

"I hope you're right. Which way do we go?"

Elliot sifted through his memories as he panned his vision over their surroundings, hoping to pluck something familiar. "We need to find the library." Gabriel turned to look in the opposite direction of Elliot down the street, when Elliot suddenly released the strangest sounding gasp that Gabriel had ever heard.

"What?" he asked, half startled half amused.

"This is Yonge Street! Right down that street is the Library!" Elliot pointed his finger then turned around, "There's Elmwood! All we gotta do is take that street and swing a right and it should be right there."

Gabriel wasn't given the time to agree before he was chasing after Elliot towards Elmwood, "Elly! Wait up!" he begged, "What's the rush?"

Elliot turned back to Gabriel with a smile on his face, "I dunno."

Eventually catching up, Gabriel grabbed Elliot's shoulder to slow him down, "We've got all night." Gabriel smiled "Even longer if you count eternity."

Elliot stopped to face Gabriel, "But... what if I disappear again?" his eyes becoming glossy "What if the next time I don't come back?"

Gabriel smiled nervously, took a false breath, and placed his hand on Elliot's chest, "Then I'll see you in sixty years -- or longer, if you want." Gabriel felt his smile become forced as the thought of being separated from Elliot began to sink in.

"Hey," Elliot's eagerness became overwhelmed with anxiety "we're going to get this done. You're not going to be alone. Not again -- not ever."

Elliot's arms pulled themselves around Gabriel's waist and his hands drew upward against his back, to his shoulder blades. He pulled him close against his chest, feeling the pressure and its accompanying warmth of their existence become one. Gabriel's face pressed into the curve of Elliot's neck as he breathed in deeply, causing Elliot that strange sense of confusion -- breathing -- but he didn't question it.

Gabriel's hands slid down Elliot's back with his fingers toying against the edge of his belt which was protruding through his t-shirt. As his insides stirred, Gabe slowly slid his hands downward, lower and lower. He felt his palms rest against the roundness of Elliot's jeans, as his fingers nervously squeezed inward.

Shivers sparked and travelled across Elliot's body as his arms instinctively pulled Gabriel closer. He felt a yearning plea screaming desperately for more, and his lips pressed against Gabe's jaw, right below ear, causing Gabe to fall into him. The two stumbled towards a building, against a wall, but fell right through it. They found themselves in a dark room, with only the glow of the street lights to guide them. Lying next to each other on the floor, Elliot rolled on top of Gabriel and pushed himself upward while his hands explored the surface of Gabriel's chest. "Can ghosts..." whispered Elliot "can we?"

Gabriel didn't answer; he didn't know how to, for even he wasn't sure. All he knew was what he felt, what he so desperately needed. His hands slid up Elliot's legs and under his shirt, to the warm feel of his smooth skin. Then, as Gabe rolled Elliot's shirt upward and over his head, Elliot's answer was clear.

A smile of impatience consumed Elliot's face as he clumsily gripped his nervous fingers against the hem of Gabriel's shirt. Gabriel giggled softly and sat up to assist his friend's failing efforts. The moment the shirt hit the floor so did their bodies. Their lips locked, and their hands explored, as the world's hold on them loosened. Nothing else mattered, but everything shone of significance. Elliot's hand trembled as it slid blindly down the front of Gabriel's chest and across his smooth, soft stomach. His fingers fumbled with the button of Gabe's jeans, impatience becoming frustration, until finally it released its hold. Pulling apart the fly by holding either side of the fabric, Elliot giggled as he peered down at Gabriel's now revealed briefs. "What's so funny?" asked Gabriel, his voice confused, coarse, and raspy in tone.

Elliot smiled as his eyes met Gabe's then travelled back down to his underwear, "You died wearing Spiderman underpants?" Snickering, Elliot's eyes amused themselves upon Gabriel's white, cotton briefs with Spiderman's head staring up at him from the centre.

Gabriel thought for a moment and his face became red, "Shit, really?" Embarrassed, Gabriel sat up and peered down at himself, "Shit -- really!" his eyes raised to meet Elliot's, "Seriously?" he struggled with his words as Elliot's playful giggles fuelled his dread, "See, this is why you always gotta be careful when you get dressed every morning."

"It's okay," Elliot assured him, still smiling, "they're cute. I like them."

Leaning downward, Elliot kissed Gabriel's stomach, just below his belly button, and slowly slid his lips to the cotton waistband of Gabe's underwear. He could feel the heat protruding from Gabriel's excitement against his cheek, then the firm length caressing his skin. Gabriel gasped with surprise as Elliot slid the pants right out from under him then abandoned them on the floor. Grasping the loops of Elliot's pants, Gabriel pulled at them, attempting to tear them from the boy's body. Elliot snickered and unclasped his belt as Gabriel's impatient hands reached for the crotch of his pants, but then joined Gabe's impatience as he felt his hardness twitching from within Gabriel's firm grasp. Elliot then climbed to his feet and allowed for his jeans to fall to the floor, where he then kicked them from his ankles. He looked down at Gabriel: his thin, smooth body, subtly toned muscles, pale skin only coloured by the shadows that the street light created, his long, thin legs, and then his midsection with Spiderman's head stretched out as his plump looking length lay beneath its fabric. Elliot felt he should laugh at the childish look of Gabriel's eternal underpants but found them to be oddly arousing. Their innocence, his innocence, everything about him was so magical, and the sight of his chosen underwear just added to the power he had over him.

Gabriel stared up at Elliot. His barely tanned skin; his legs spread as he stood over top of him, the thin, tight fabric of his worn GAP boxer-briefs, which had orange and blue horizontal stripes, and looked to be a size or two too small. Then, the uncomfortable looking mass which bulged upward, towards the waistband. Their smiles met, and Elliot lowered himself overtop of Gabriel. Lips locking without thought, hands grasping without fear; Gabriel could feel Elliot's hips grinding into his own as the cotton of their remaining clothing slid and gripped to the others. He could feel the fabric becoming warm and moist as Elliot's erection pressed firmly into his own. While kissing Elliot's neck, the sensation of something new massaged against Gabriel's stomach. It was hot and wet, and it slid firmly against his abdomen. Gabriel heard a strange whimper escape from his throat when he realized what the feeling was. He could no longer control his patience, and greedily pulled Elliot's underwear to his knees. Elliot lifted himself upward to allow his friend greater ease, as his gaze became locked on Gabe's groin. Spiderman was now soaked and had become several shades darker. Then, he saw the barely visible glands of Gabriel's excitement peeking from his waistband with a gentle bead of liquid squeezing from its tip.

Just before Gabriel could absorb the sight of Elliot's stiffened perfection, Elliot fell towards him. Disappointment, however, was quickly replaced by excitement as Elliot's lips pressed against the swollen bulb of his heated length. Elliot allowed his mouth to close around the intoxicating taste of life as he pushed it downward, lowering Gabriel's briefs so that they hugged around the base of his erection and revealed, to Elliot, Gabriel's most secret region. A small collection of tiny blond hairs gathered softly against the lowest part of his abdomen. Elliot's nose soon nuzzled against them as his mouth consumed Gabriel's proud-standing heat. Whimpers suddenly circulated and Elliot's tongue bathed in the taste of something bitter.

"Oh shit," panted Gabe, "I'm sorry."

Elliot drew away from Gabe's centre, smacking his lips together. "It's okay."

"I didn't mean to. It's just... I..."

"It's okay Gabe," said Elliot, leaning down to Gabe's lips.

"But... I wanted it to last a bit," Elliot placed a kiss upon Gabe's mumbling mouth, "...longer."

"Don't worry. We'll go again later. We should probably start moving anyway."

Gabriel's expression turned from embarrassment to depression, and he rolled onto his side to collect his clothes. Elliot watched as the boy quietly got himself dressed then walked towards a door. "What happens next?" he asked with his head hanging to the ground.

"We go to the hospital, find your mom, find my body, have some more one-on-one time, then figure things out from there," explained Elliot.

"One-on-one, huh?" Gabe smiled, and peered back at Elliot. "All right, let's go."

The boys walked side-by-side down the middle of the deserted street, watching the sun slowly climb itself back into its rightful place in the sky while the moon cowered towards the horizon. Their surrounding were tinted a cool shade of red, and the concrete glimmered of moisture, reflecting the morning's heat. Very slowly, signs of life began to find its way back into the world as the first bus of the day hummed down an empty lane. "Hey!" shouted Gabe, "Can we catch that bus?"

"I don't see why not."

Gabriel snatched Elliot's hand, and rushed him towards the massive orange box of metal as it hissed to a halt at a red light. "Hurry up!" he chuckled, pulling harder on Elliot's wrist.

"I'm hurrying!" Elliot assured the boy, his face consumed in a reddened grin.

The boys ran as fast as they could manage, Gabriel slamming his hand against the side of the bus like a living person would do, to urge the driver to stop. A loud squeal erupted from the bus's tires as the brakes released, and started rolling forward. Gabriel screamed, and tugged on Elliot's arm, whipping his friend's body against the metal. "Grab hold!"

Elliot's shoulder slid in through the rear door of the bus as his fingers struggled to find something he may be able to hold onto. "How am I supposed to...?"

"Just think of it like you're alive!" shouted Gabe.

"What?!"

Gabriel jumped at the bus, tucking his feet and curling himself into a ball. His body then disappeared through the narrow orange doors. Elliot screamed as he felt his arm losing grip, but just as he thought he would roll out into the street to be left all alone, Gabriel's hand snatched at his arm, and pulled him in through the doors. "You really suck at this," Gabriel snickered, and patted Elliot on the back.

"Shut up. I'm still new at this."

Gabriel stood up, and walked to the back of the bus. "So, how far do you think this will take us?"

"Dunno, we didn't really get a great look at the map did we," chuckled Elliot as he followed Gabe. "All I know is we're probably going the right way."

"Probably?" Gabriel turned his head while Elliot sat down next to him. "What if we're going the wrong way?"

"Then I guess we'll just have to hop another bus in the right direction later."

Part Five

Elliot stared down the narrow aisle of the bus. The rows of graffiti covered seats, and the lengths of advertisements which had finally broken free of their, once limited, confines of lit banners against the upper corners of the bus's walls, and now consumed the ceiling as well.

"Geeze, looks like the bus is a rolling commercial now," snickered Gabriel. "How sad is that?"

Glancing up at the ceiling, Elliot smiled. "Yeah, pretty soon they're going to have to pay us to enter the bus."

Gabriel thought for a moment. "Nah, they'll just stick ads on the bus driver's uniforms, bus passes, and tickets."

"Yeah, that's probably right," agreed Elliot, as his attention wandered towards the front of the bus where a man seemed to be staring at him. "Hey, Gabriel," Elliot whispered.

"Huh?"

"Can that guy see us, or is it just me?"

Turning his head and looking down the bus's aisle, Gabriel's eyes grew large. "Come on, we're getting off."

"What?" replied Elliot in surprise. "Why?"

Gabriel stood up from his seat and turned around. "Just do it," he demanded.

A strange groaning noise suddenly echoed throughout the bus, as if it were seeping through the walls. "What's going on?"

"Close your eyes and lay down -- imagine you're sinking through water. When you hit the ground... try not to scream too loud," directed Gabriel, turning his head towards the man, who was now standing in the aisle. "Go!"

Gabriel pushed Elliot, causing him to slip through the back of the bus. His body felt like it were mangled in knots and being burnt to ashes all at once, as his body tumbled to the speeding asphalt below. He jumped to his feet to see Gabriel, still in the bus, jumping up on top of the back seat and leap towards the window. As Gabriel's legs morphed through the back of the bus, a large, black cloud consumed everything behind him. A loud, snarling groan, followed by an even louder scream was heard just as the cloud crashed through the glass, shattering it, and as fast as a blink of an eye, Gabriel disappeared inside.

"Gabriel!" Elliot screamed, climbing to his feet while cars sped through him. "GABRIEL!" tears began to stream down Elliot's cheeks, faster than his eyes could well up. "GABRIEL!!"

Suddenly, the bus squealed to a shrieking halt, its rear sliding to the left of the road. Elliot spared no time for thought and ran towards the bus. A man was yelling from inside, just as several others were from all around. People flooded into the streets towards the bus, but as Elliot neared the commotion, he realized the cloud had vanished.

"Somebody call a doctor!" Elliot heard a man scream from inside the bus.

A gurgling noise spat through the air, more people rushed around the bus, then sirens began to chime all around them. Elliot wasn't sure if it was fear or curiosity, but he had to see what had happened. 'Was it possible that the Forgotten had managed to hurt someone? Someone alive?' he thought, nearing the side of the bus.

"Ghaa -- call my wife," choked an unseen man.

Elliot placed his hands against the rear door of the bus then, once the tingling sensation consumed him, pushed himself through. When he arrived on the other side, several people had surrounded the man who was once driving the bus. Blood, as black as tar, was pouring from nose and mouth as bubbled gurgles replaced his voice. Climbing the two stairs in front of him, Elliot stood at the foot of the, obviously, dying man. His eyes were glazing over, and his skin had changed from red to white in the few short seconds that it took Elliot to got off of the stairs. As Elliot watched in horror, he noticed the man's eyes staring up at him; his expression grew soft, and his opened mouth closed into a smile. "I'm not afraid," said the bus driver, his eyes locked onto Elliot's as a tear rolled down his face and into his ear. "And nor should you."

A hiss, like a bursting air pipe, burst through the man's chest, causing Elliot to fall backwards off of his feet. When he looked back, a large, bright light shot up from the bus drivers mouth, chest and eyes and pierced through the bus's roof. A soft, gentle laugh echoed all around him, followed by the crashing thuds of several emergency response medics.

They yelled and screamed for everyone to step away and took the onlookers' place around the man. "I don't have a pulse!" Another man tore open the shirt, buttons flew through the air and pinged off of the windows, "Where's the defibrillator?" he demanded, while forcing a plastic cylinder down the man's throat.

Elliot turned from the paramedics and stepped off of the bus. The electronic sound of the defibrillator charging could be heard from the street BOOM Elliot jumped and turned around. "Nothing!" screamed one of the paramedics as the device recharged BOOM A tear suddenly rolled down Elliot's cheek, it was like he could feel every blast that they were giving that poor bus driver, BOOM!!! Elliot felt his throat grow dry, thoughts of Gabriel crashed through skull, BEEP How was he going to get him back? BEEP How would he even find him? BEEP What was that noise?

BEEP BEEP BEEP... Suddenly a strange thumping sensation strummed against Elliot's chest. He glared back through the street to see what could be causing it, but the world was quickly becoming consumed in a thick, grey fog. "Shit!"

"Elliot? Elliot, can you hear me?" whispered a calm but stern voice. "You're inside St. Matthew's Hospital."

Elliot opened his eyes, the lights burning straight through to his retinas, and looked up to see a male doctor of about fifty standing over him. "I thought I was at St. Michael's." Elliot mumbled while trying to wipe his watering eyes.

"Good, you were listening," said the doctor. "I was just checking. Do you remember why you're here?"

"No," replied Elliot, staring up at the ceiling. "I think I got hit by a car."

"Good, you do remember," said the man enthusiastically. "But do you know how long you've been here, or why you're still here?"

Elliot thought for a moment, counting the few days that he'd spent with Gabriel. "A few days, I guess."

The strangely happy man sat down on the bed and grinned so widely that the cheshire cat would blush. "Are you dizzy? Thirsty? Do you want some ice?"

"Can you just tell me what's going on?" Elliot snapped at the man, feeling immediately guilty.

The doctor placed his stethoscope against his ears, reached, and then lifted Elliot's gown, placing its drum against his chest. Elliot waited patiently while the man listened to his heart, then took his blood pressure. "Just one more second," bargained the doctor, pulling a small flashlight from his coat and shining it in Elliot's eyes. "Follow it please," he directed in between hums and aws. "All right, so, how do you feel?"

"I'm fine," replied Elliot in a horribly whinny tone.

The doctor put away his flashlight, and wrapped his stethoscope around his neck. "Well, Elliot, guess it's time to spill the beans, as it were. You've been here for some time now, in a coma. A strange one I might add. Over the past three months you've woken up, including now, three times now. It's really quite miraculous. Each time you're awake no more than twenty minutes, but then something pulls you back."

"What does?"

The doctor sat up and looked to be pondering deeply as he scratched at his chin. "That we aren't sure of, though we can predict each time that you're going to wake up. It's really quite remarkable."

"How?"

"Simple..."

Elliot had to squint his eyes to see the doctor sitting only inches away from him, as the room became dark and foggy. "How?" Elliot pleaded, the bed he had been laying on was become cold and hard. "How!?" he screamed once more, but it was too late.

Sitting up in the middle of an dark, empty alley, Elliot studied his surroundings, trying to make sense of where he was. "FUCK!" he screamed in a tantrum of frustration. He climbed to his feet as his mind attempted to get a grip on its new reality. Feeling his anger building inside of him, Elliot balled up his fist and swung at a dumpster, only to get air. "Fuck again!" he screamed, lashing out his fists in all directions while kicking his feet at the ground.

Taking one last swing at the dumpster with his foot, Elliot allowed himself to fall to the ground. He braced himself up with the knuckles of his fists while staring angrily at the wet concrete below. "Gabriel," he remembered. "Fuck Gabriel, where are you!" he swung at the ground. "How could you do this to me!?" he then jumped to his feet and drew back his fist, "GABRIEL!"

Crashing his entire self into the dumpster, in behind his fist, a hard, loud ricochet of vibrations poured in all directions, followed be a strange numbing sensation that was quickly crawling up Elliot's arm. "What the..."

Elliot stared down at his hands. They seemed to be no different than before, but as his eyes locked on the massive dent in the side of the garbage bin, he knew that something had just changed in him.

Glaring down at his hands as if he had never seen them before, Elliot felt a grim glow of pride simmering deep within himself. It was like he had just discovered he had super powers; no, he did have super powers, the massive dent in the steel box beside him was proof. No ordinary person could do such a thing; a car could barely do such a thing!

"GABRIEL!" Elliot screamed, unsure if he was actually trying to search for him or merely wanting to show off.

The moment Elliot realized his thoughts, guilt overtook him and forced him to his knees. His thoughts were already becoming dark and sickening and Gabriel has only just been taken away from him. "Shit," Elliot groaned, running his hands through his hair. "Gabriel! Come back to me!" he cried. "I need you." Elliot curled up into a ball in the middle of an alley, tears flowing down his cheeks as his insides gnawed at his outsides.

"Elliot?" whispered a soft, familiar voice. "Elliot it's okay, I'm right here."

Elliot lifted his head towards the calling voice. "Gabriel?"

A smile spread across Gabriel's face. "Yes. It's okay, I'm okay."

"But... how did you get away?" asked Elliot. "I saw the Forgotten take you."

"I'm fine, come here. I'll prove it to you," said Gabriel, gesturing for Elliot to take his hand.

Elliot leapt to his feet and ran into Gabriel's waiting arms. "I thought I lost you -- I didn't think I'd see you again," he whimpered in the boy's arms. "Are you okay? Where did they take you? How did you escape?"

"Shhh," whispered Gabriel. "Everything's going to be fine now."

Elliot opened his his eyes, staring down at the ground, while a strong sense of panic began to overwhelm him. "Gabriel?"

"Yes?"

"Let's go find your father, okay?"

"Sure," Gabriel replied. "But first, let's go back to that building -- you know, in the basement?"

Elliot pushed himself away from Gabriel's embrace and fell to the ground. "Who the fuck are you?!" he demanded. "Where's Gabe?!"

Gabriel's head turned away from Elliot. As Elliot climbed back to his feet, the sounds of children crying were pouring from Gabriel's mouth. "Who are YOU?!" Elliot warned.

"We."

"What?" snapped Elliot through irritation as his hands, once again, began to fall numb.

"Who are WE."

Gabriel's head snapped back and his arms flung out at his sides as a massive cloud of smoke poured from his mouth. A tar-like substance lashed out at Elliot's legs, slapping hard against the concrete.

"Jesus! ..." Elliot jumped away from Gabriel's fading body, and watched as it was torn to ash before his eyes.

The howls of forgotten children cried out from deep in the depths of the smoke accompanied by a heavy thunder of laughter which echoed from all directions. "Who are WE?!" it cackled, and again lashed out at Elliot. "Who ARE we?"

"GABRIEL!" screamed Elliot, falling back onto the cement, once again. "GABRIEL! HELP!"

The clouds laughter suddenly diminished, sizzling like water on fire, only to be replaced be the brute, ruling voice of a thousand voices. "WHO ARE WE?"

"Elliot..."

A soft voice whispered, almost going unnoticed through the blaring echoes. "Go -- Elliot go..."

Elliot rolled backwards, away from the approaching cloud. "Gabriel!"

"St. Michael's -- go now!"

"Gabriel!" Elliot jumped back up to his feet. "I can't! Not without you," his arms became numb as his sadness mutated into anger. "I won't leave you!"

A sudden frenzy of rage surged through Elliot's entirety, and without though he trudged forward, slashing his fists through the air, crashing them down heavily over the vine-like lengths.

"YES!" screamed the voices. "Feel its power, its glory. Let it fill you."

As Elliot pushed onward, the cloud held its ground. The children's cries grew louder, as if to warn him away, but their warning's importance was only emphasized when the overpowering laughter became unbearable. Elliot's ferocity quickly plummeted to an end as his ears rang of whispering taunts. He tried to scream for Gabriel, one last time, but could not withstand the cloud's power any longer, and reluctantly, he turned to run away.

"Dammit!" Elliot screamed, slapping the palms of his hands against a brick wall and dropping his head to face the ground. He could feel his morale seeping through his pores and running away; fearing that his cowardice actions may have cost Gabriel's very soul. "Gabriel," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

Turning from the wall, Elliot fell back against the wall and glared up at the sky, watching as the sun rose up over the buildings. The forgotten feeling of heat spread across his face and warmed his entirety. The familiar tenseness of soar muscles randomly teased his joints. 'What's happening?' he thought, lifting his hands out in front of himself and staring at them with an intensity that he'd never known before. BEEP BEEP BEEP "Shit, not now," BEEP BEEP BEEP "Not yet! ..."

Be-beep be-beep be-beep-Be-BEEP-be-BEEP-BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeee....

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*...

Elliot opened his eyes and examined the room. He heard yelling, followed by the heavy thuds that could only be caused by a defibrillator, and saw a crowd of doctors and nurses beside him. "What's going on?" he asked, while attempting to lift his head.

A doctor turned his head. Elliot automatically recognized him as the doctor that he had been speaking with before. "Oh," the doctor smiled and walked over to Elliot. "Elliot, you're back," he then looked behind himself, toward the other doctors. "What a surprise."

The doctor's face began to glow of joy as the same large grin as before streaked across the man's face. "Time of death, 11:52..."

Part Six

Elliot felt his muscles twinge and tighten as he attempted to sit up in the bed where he was lying. "Take it easy Elliot," warned the doctor. "Your muscles haven't been moving much lately, so you've got to take it slowly."

"What's happening?" asked Elliot, staring over at the crowd of people next to him at another bed.

The doctor turned, following Elliot's gaze. "Ah. Sadly, that is the usual way that patients leave this room," he explained, and sat down on Elliot's bed. "Do you remember the last time you woke up?"

Elliot shook his head 'yes' while the doctor wrapped a device around his arm. "Of course."

"How long ago was that?" asked the doctor, pumping air into the device.

Elliot thought for a moment, counting the possible hour or so that he had been gone. "Not long, I guess."

"Three weeks, actually," the doctor released Elliot's arm. "You seem to have a great knack for timing. It's like clockwork for you -- quite extraordinary."

"What do you mean?" asked Elliot, watching as the crowd beside him parted and two men wheeled out a bed. "Did that guy just die?"

The doctor looked back at the body being wheeled out of the room. "Why yes," he answered with the same grin that Elliot remembered from before. "That's what I've been trying to figure out. It seems that every time a patient in the coma ward passes away, within twenty minutes of their departure, you wake up, albeit briefly."

"How?" Elliot enquired in disbelief.

"That's what we were hoping to ask you... But for now, if you don't leave us again, you need your rest," the doctor stood from the bed, "If you're still with us in an hour, I'll call your mother and tell her the news."

"Nurse Williams," Elliot remembered. "Does she still work here?"

The doctor turned his back to face Elliot. "Ah, you remember Ms. Williams, do you?"

"Yeah -- I need to talk to her," whispered Elliot, beginning to feel sleep pulling him under. "I need to speak with Jane."

"Jane?" the doctor's intrigue seemed to glow in his voice. "Her shift doesn't start until this evening, but I'll let her know..."

"I need to talk to her about her son," Elliot's tone cried of urgency, startling the doctor.

"What do you know of Jane's son?"

"Everything..."

Elliot's surroundings became strangely foggy. Not like they had before; this time, everything seemed different... darker. "Elliot? ...Elliot, can you hear me?"

The fog turned black, spreading throughout the room like a tidal wave as it crashed against the sand. "Who are we?"

"Excuse me?" asked the doctor. "Elliot? Who's 'we'?"

The doctor's voice began to echo as the room filled of blackness. Elliot saw the man's expression transform from curious to concerned. "The Forgotten..." he whispered, feeling his eyes flutter and close.

"Elliot wait!" screamed the doctor. "Stay with me Elliot!"

"Elly..." Elliot jumped to his feet. His eyes still seemed heavy, and his body ached all over. "Elly..."

"Gabriel? Gabe, where are you?"

"Help me Elly," pleaded the voice of Gabriel. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here!" Elliot screamed, looking around to see where, exactly, 'here' was.

The sounds of echoing footsteps and high-pitched beeping spun all around him. Everything was dark and faded, as if the entire world had suddenly become transparent. There didn't seem to be a beginning or end to anything. The beams in the floor could be seen underneath his feet, then the next floor, and the next. "Gabriel? I... what's happening?"

"Elliot..."

Gabriel's voice began to diminish as the air around Elliot seemed to thicken. He spun around, trying to relocate Gabriel's call, but in the process he lost track of where he was. It was like the transparency of the walls were changing, mutating and shifting in a constant motion. "Gabriel? Where am I?"

A heavy pull, like an unseen force, sped throughout Elliot's body, he turned to see the entity of a man, the doctor who Elliot had been speaking with only moments ago, walked right through him. "Gabriel! We're in the hospital!" he screamed, hoping that his words would summon Gabriel to him.

"Elliot, come back to me," whispered a sobbing voice that seemed to speaking directly into Elliot's ear.

Turning his head, Elliot noticed a woman entering a room and felt himself drawn towards her. He followed the woman next to a bed, recognizing her as a nurse, where another woman was sitting, draped over the lifeless looking body of a child.

As Elliot entered the room, the nurse who he had followed leaned forward, and ran her fingers through the child's hair, and then turned her head and smiled at the other woman. "He'll be fine," said the nurse, sounding like she was speaking through a hollow pipe. "He's just dehydrated."

The nurse then turned to change the boy's IV. "Thank-you so much," said the woman, who then kissed her son on the cheek and stood up.

Suddenly, Elliot realized where he was. His eyes widened in confusion and bewilderment as the entity of a child in front of him became clear to his vision. He crept up towards the bed, his gaze transfixed on the boy's face. "Holy shit..." whispered Elliot, staring down at the body. "That's me..."

"Elly..."

Elliot turned back to the hallway. "Gabriel?"

"Elly."

"Gabriel, where are you?!"

"ELLIOT RUN!"

The walls suddenly shook and trembled as a black fog consumed the floor. Elliot burst out into the hall, the sounds of an echoing beep trailing in the back of his head. The walls were throbbing as a strange, throbbing noise escaped them. As Elliot neared a the end of the hall, the walls began to shift, as strange vein-like roots consumed his surroundings. As he turned back around, to seek another direction, his eyes became locked with an others. His body refused to react, and his mind lost itself deep into the gaze of whom they were looking.

The stench of rotted flesh consumed Elliot's senses as he stared at the darkness, of what used to be a man, in front of him. Its eyes were empty and white, and its skin was torn and malformed with blisters, as if its entire body had exploded but then put back together.

A heavy grumble vibrated from the floor, causing Elliot to lose his balance and fall to the ground. "Who are we?" grumbled the thing in front of him.

"Gabriel!" Elliot cried, trying to climb to his feet.

"Who ARE we?!" asked the creature, as if amused.

Suddenly, something snatched at Elliot's ankle, pulling him directly through the floor. Elliot tried to scream but could not summon the will fast enough. A sharp pain surged throughout his entire body, as he rolled onto his side.

"Elliot!" screamed a voice. "Elliot! Get up!"

Forcing himself to turn his head upward, Elliot felt his body lose all control. "Gabriel!" cried Elliot, jumping to his feet and towards his friend.

"Run!" Gabriel pushed Elliot in front of him, faster than Elliot could register the sudden movement, causing him to fall back to the ground. "Get up!"

Elliot felt his arm being tugged followed by a loud pop, as a surge of pain cascaded throughout his body. Gabriel, however, showed no signs of slowly, and instead pulled harder at Elliot's arm, and forcing him down a stairwell. "Hurry!" urged Gabriel.

"I can't!" Elliot screamed, feeling his arms grow numb and his legs begin to burn. "It hurts! Oh God it hurts!"

Gabriel paid Elliot's words no attention. He burst through another doorway, down a hall, and then down some more stairs. "If we stop, we die!"

The howls and cackles of laughter ricocheted off of the walls as veins grew through them. A thick cloud of smoke poured into the halls from all directions, "Who are WE" screamed the voices, as the sounds of crying children trailed with its echo.

"I don't know!" Gabriel screamed. "Leave us alone!"

"Gabriel!" beckoned Elliot. "Look!"

Gabriel rose his gaze ahead of them, following Elliot's rising arm as he pointed forward. A piercing ray of light broke through the smoke, creating a sizzling sound as it forced the blackness away. Wrapping his arms around Elliot, Gabriel threw their bodies into a role. They crashed to the ground with a heavy thud. Steam consumed the air as screams of desperate cries descended into nothingness.

"Holy shit," said Elliot as he rolled off of Gabriel. "What just happened?"

"Daybreak," Gabriel replied, climbing to his feet. "They can't survive in the light, remember?"

Elliot rolled onto his back, his entire body felt as if it were trying to explode. "What's wrong with me? I hurt so much..."

"Elliot..." said Gabriel. "We need to get you out of here -- Your body's dying."

Elliot felt his insides twist and knot. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. You can't stay like this. You need to go back to your body, or you'll be stuck here, forever."

"I can't," Elliot pleaded. "I can't leave you here."

Gabriel bent down to help Elliot to his feet. "You have to. Your life isn't over yet."

"No!" begged Elliot. "We're meant to be together! I know we are!"

"No Elliot, we aren't. Not yet," replied Gabriel in a soft, understanding tone.

"Yes, we are! Every time I came back from my body, where would I end up?" Elliot fell into Gabriel, wrapping his arms around him. "I'd end up back with you." Gabriel remained quiet, allowing Elliot's embrace to tighten. "I didn't see it before. Not until the last time I came back, here, where you were."

"Elliot -- if you were meant to be dead, now, and stay here with me -- then why is your body still alive?" Gabriel leaned in and kissed Elliot's cheek. "Why didn't you die when you got hit by that car?"

Elliot released Gabriel and stepped away from him. "How did you know I was hit by a car?"

"Because," Gabriel stepped closer. "I was there."

Backing himself into a wall, Elliot felt tears begin to stream down his cheeks. "What? How? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you weren't ready to hear it," explained Gabriel.

"But you lied to me!" screamed Elliot, feeling his throat tearing through the words. "You told me you were stuck in that school... why?"

"I was," Gabriel assured him. "When you got hit, to me, when I saw it, it was like a dream. I didn't even realize it was real until you appeared at the school the next day, honest."

"You should have told me."

Gabriel slid his hands in behind Elliot's back and pulled him closer. "I know. I'm sorry."

As Gabriel's warmth penetrated deep within Elliot's body, he gave into his emotions. Elliot's arms wrapped around Gabriel's waist and squeezed with all his might. The pain in his shoulder was burning of agony, but as their embrace strengthened, pain was no longer of importance.

"Whatever brought us together," whispered Elliot against Gabriel's shoulder, "did it for a reason."

Gabriel smiled, allowing the a once simmering glow burst throughout his body. "Love," he whispered back. "The reason was love."

Elliot lifted his head, directing Gabriel's lips to his own, as he squeezed his arms around him as tight as he could mange. A strangely familiar scent filled their lungs, it was fresh and sweet, forcing their knees to buckle and their bodies to collapse.

Gabriel ran his hands down Elliot's back, slipping them under the fabric of his shirt, then slid them back up again. Elliot's body reacted with shivers and goose-bumps as the palms of his hands reached downward, grasping firmly upon Gabriel's behind.

Their warm lips parted, allowing their tongues the freedom of exploration, as Elliot leaned forward, directing Gabriel to the floor. "I need you," whispered Elliot as his hands slid Gabriel's shirt up and over his head.

As Gabriel struggled to do the same with Elliot's shirt, without breaking their kiss, Elliot dipped his fingers underneath Gabriel's pants. "Okay," panted Gabriel, "no making fun of Spiderman this time."

Elliot giggled, remembering Gabriel's eternal underpants, and rushed his fingers to Gabriel's fly. "But they're so beautiful," Elliot replied, while unbuttoning Gabriel's jeans as his own slid down his legs.

Just as Elliot had managed to slide Gabriel's pants down to his knees, Gabriel climbed on top of him. He stared up at the boy's powerful eyes and then down to his bulging Spiderman head. Elliot reached for it, and curled his fingers around its entirety. Gabriel sighed, and struggled to keep himself from collapsing.

This time, Elliot took no chances, and placed his hands on the waistband of Gabriel's briefs, and then slowly slid them down. Gabriel blushed, feeling his erection spring upward and slap itself against his stomach. A slight giggle escaped them both, then Gabriel reached reached for Elliot's boxer-briefs, and without hesitation, slid them off.

Both boys stared down at the others body, absorbing every detail as if it were their last moments together... As the reality of the moment sunk in, realizing that this may just be their last time together for a long, long time, Gabriel fell down on Elliot, holding him as tight as humanly possible as Elliot tried to pull him closer.

A tear fell over Elliot's eyelid and slowly mixed with his own as it rolled down his cheek while Elliot combed his fingers through Gabriel's hair. Randomly, Elliot began to giggle, as he felt Gabriel's erection twitching against his stomach, but when he went to reach for it, Gabriel stopped him.

"What?" asked Elliot, afraid he had done something wrong.

Gabriel just smiled while slowly sliding down Elliot's chest and across his stomach. "It's your turn," he grinned, then wrapped his fingers around Elliot's stiffened mass.

Elliot's hips automatically began to lift off of the floor as Gabriel massaged his centre. He looked down at the boy's naked body, perfect in every sense of the word, and couldn't help but reach for him. Gabriel whimpered when he felt Elliot's hands pulling at his waist, just as his lips were about to taste Elliot's hardness for the first time.

Staring up at the Gabe's erection, hovering above his head, Elliot reached out and cradle it in his hand. Playing with the length between his thumb and fingers, allowing his palm to cradle its hanging pouch.

Just as Elliot was lifting his head, Gabriel's tongue and mouth consumed him from below. Losing control of his body, Elliot's hips thrust upward, allowing Gabriel's tongue to wrap around him, until his length reached the boy's throat and lips met with the warmth of his abdomen.

Elliot reached upward, wrapping his arms around Gabriel's waist, pulling his downward, as they rolled onto their side. His lips then placed themselves around the very tip of Gabriel's erection and slowly pressed forward.

Gabriel gasped, in a whisper, when he felt his length enter the warmth of Elliot's mouth. His hands slid across the boy's hips, circling down across his smooth, round buttocks, then down along his back.

Elliot mimicked Gabriel's actions, his fingers overwhelmed with sensation, when suddenly they came in contact with something unexplored. He circled his index finger around it: a circular fold, soft and warm. Without thought, he pressed inward, causing Gabriel to hum against his centre and roll onto his back.

The world suddenly began to spin and obscure as Gabriel's laughter graced the air in an echo of joy and amusement. Elliot sat up and looked around. "What happened?"

Gabriel rolled onto his side, wiping tears from his eyes as he struggled to calm his giggles. "We fell down the stairs."

Elliot turned his head and looked up to see a set of stairs to their left. "We fell through a wall?"

Gabriel sat up, still giggling. "Yeah. I think we missed the stairs too," he said, pointing upward. "See? We were beside the door, and must have just missed the staircase... so instead we just fell."

Elliot stared up, slightly annoyed at the disturbance. "Let's go find a bed."

Grabbing Gabriel's hand, Elliot hopped down another flight of stairs and into a hallway. Quickly, he marched them down the hall, peering left and right at all the opened doors, looking for a room. "If this is the last time I see you naked, we're going to do this right."

"But," stared Gabriel. "We are naked," he chuckled, realizing they had left their clothes on the other floor.

"Who cares, we don't need them," decided Elliot, pulling Gabriel into a room.

Gabriel fell back on the bed, wishing that he could have bounced, just like he used to. Still smiling, he reached for Elliot's hands, and pulled him closer. Elliot climbed up onto the bed as Gabriel laid down, pulling Elliot down over top of him.

"I don't want to leave you," Elliot whispered into Gabriel's ear.

"You won't," he replied. "Not ever."

Elliot smiled and placed his lips to Gabriel's, then lowered his body against him. Their warmth combined and became like one, as their excitement was quickly restored. Reaching down, Elliot found Gabriel's erection and slowly began to stroke it. Gabriel slid his hands along Elliot's back, allowing his fingers a memory that he hoped would last an eternity.

Gabriel soon felt Elliot's groin pressing down against his own, as Elliot's hands slid up Gabriel's stomach then underneath his arms and against his shoulders. "I love you," Gabriel whispered, pressing his hips up into Elliot's.

Elliot sighed, and kissed Gabriel's neck. "I love you too."

Gabriel felt Elliot's stiffness sinking down between his legs, and without thought he lifted his knees and spread them apart. Moments later, Elliot's stiffness slid down between the folds of his behind, and a warm liquid was causing his skin to feel slick.

As Elliot's movement continued, the tip of his erection pressed against Gabriel's entrance, slowly probing deeper with every gentle push from his hips. Gabriel felt his own excitement begin to stiffen, so much so that he feared the moment's end. Reaching out, Gabriel grabbed Elliot's behind and pulled him as close as he could. Elliot gasped in excitement, feeling his length slip inside Gabriel's body until his abdomen made contact with the boy's soft muscles.

They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, neither of them willing to make the first move, but as they lost themselves in the others gaze, their need for the other became to strong. As if by reading the others mind, both boys reached for the others lips, which instinctively parted to allow their tongues to meet.

Elliot's hips moved back, but Gabriel pushed him back down, causing them both to gasp. Elliot then repeated the action, only this time did not wait for Gabriel to help, and slowly allowed himself to reenter the boy's warmth.

Their hands travelled along the others body with an urgency that either of them had known before. With every touch, a new sensation would be born, and every noise, created a flood of shivers. Their insides felt as if they were made of pins and needles, floating in a pool of warmed Jell-o, but their skin, rippled in an ocean of goose-bumps, shivered in a warmth like no other. As their need for more grew, so did their speed of which they tried to catch up.

Gabriel's arms reached and grabbed at Elliot's body, pulling him closer, as tight as he could manage. The shivers and warmth, along with that strange, unreachable, itch deep inside of him, became too much to bear; and reluctantly, Gabriel gave into the pressure which had been building deep within himself.

A muffled hum escaped Gabriel's lips, tickling Elliot's tongue, as his entire body seized then convulsed. Elliot felt a sudden pressure, rapidly twitching against his centre's length, from deep within Gabriel's entrance, just as a warm, slippery liquid poured out against his stomach.

Gabriel's body became limp, and his knees fell back to the mattress. Elliot felt his eyes flutter and his thoughts become dizzy. Without his mind's guidance, his hips rapidly circled against Gabriel's relaxing muscles. A building pressure warmed itself deep withing Elliot's stomach, followed by a tingling itch, glowing from below. He thrust himself forward, causing Gabriel to whimper and pant. His mind began to race at an even greater speed, pushing in once again. The warmth was dropping, and the itch was rising, both soon about to collide within him. Pulling back, almost completely out of Gabriel, Elliot thrust himself forward, just as the his body consumed itself in shivers, spasms and indescribable feelings. His entire body temporarily lost all control over anything that may happen.

Elliot's face reddened, his convulsions slowly tapering to a lingering glow. His body tingled, and his mind's clarity was slowly returning. He felt himself collapse, and fall over top of Gabriel, who immediately wrapped his arms around him. Elliot wanted to laugh, but couldn't explain why. He wanted to cry, but became confused as his emotions combined. He felt Gabriel's lips pressing against his cheek, and slowly travel towards his lips; so instead, Elliot smiled, allowing Gabriel's presence to linger against his body. "What am I going to do without you?" whispered Elliot.

Gabriel kissed Elliot on the neck, then gently placed his head on Elly's chest. "Live."

A loss of breath prevented Elliot from replying. He felt his eyes well up with moisture as he wrapped his arms tightly around his love.

"Elliot? I love you," whispered the fading voice of Gabriel as Elliot felt himself fall into slumber.

A bird chirped outside the window, waking Elliot from his well needed sleep. He heard the gentle noise of breathing at his side, and a faint beeping that echoed throughout the room. Turning his head to look for Gabriel, Elliot saw his mother, sleeping at his side. A sudden emptiness filled his chest and mixed with yet another emotion, one that Elliot was not familiar with: a mix between relief and comfort. He tried to lift his head, but found his neck to be far too sore; so instead, reached out towards his mother, just as another woman entered the room.

"Mom?" Elliot whispered.

"Elliot?!" greeted another voice from the doorway. "You're awake."

Samantha opened her eyes to see Elliot's face smiling back at her. In a flood of overwhelming emotion, she threw herself onto the bed, wrapping her arms around her son. "Thank God," she cried. "I'm so sorry Elliot..."

Elliot enjoyed his mother's embrace, wrapping his arms around her, then noticed the nurse standing at the end of his bed. "Ms. Williams?"

Jane's expression seemed to melt with anticipation and anxiety. "Yes," she replied, trying to control her emotions.

Elliot swallowed, trying to moisten his throat. "I need to tell you something..."

Three months later...

Elliot's eyes opened to the sounds of chirping birds from outside of a window. The world was filled with its familiar morning blur. Rubbing his face with closed knuckles, Elliot sat up in his bed and looked around the room. His floor was a scattered array of clothes and stacked books, the door was opened, the lights in the hall were lit, and the clock read eight 'o' seven.

"Shit!" he screamed and jumped out of bed, running for the hall. He paused for a moment when he realized that he was still dressed in the same clothes as the day before.

Elliot quickly tore off his clothes and ran to his dresser to pick out something clean. "Mom! Where's my Daybreakers shirt?!"

"It's in your closet!" Samantha bellowed up the stairs. "Hurry up, you're going to be late your first day back!"

"I'm hurrying!" Elliot replied, running over to his closet and tearing the shirt from its hanger. "Thanks Mom, I found it!"

By the time he got to school the bell had just rang. His mind scrambling at a million thoughts per second trying to trying to figure out what he was going to tell everyone about where he had been over the last nine months. Elliot stood in the hall, inhaled a large breath of air, and opened the door to his first period class. The teacher, Mrs. Ellen, smiled at him as he walked passed her. "Welcome back Elliot, it's good to see you again."

Elliot smiled and thanked her, then turned towards his desk. Sitting down, Elliot turned to the empty seat beside him. He wanted to smile, but could barely control his tears from creating a scene his first day back.

The entire morning dragged on, slower than any morning ever has or ever will. His attention kept directing itself from the clock, to any empty space in the room that held memory. He'd look out the window, at the picnic table where he and Gabe had almost 'duked' it out the first day they met.

By the time the bell rang to announce an entire hour of freedom, Elliot was ready to burst. Everyone he saw had questions for him, and those that didn't were looking at him like they did; so the moment the bell rang, Elliot jumped from his desk and ran for the halls.

He heard a teacher scream from behind him to slow down, but Elliot paid her no mind, he had work to do.

Cutting in line in the cafeteria, kids whining and complaining, Elliot shoved his way in front of a large, metal cooler. "Hi, can I get that one there, please?" asked Elliot, pointing through the glass of the cooler.

Elliot dropped the money on the table and grabbed the napkin bearing 'his lunch' on a napkin and took three very careful steps to the right. He looked around, smiling, with tears streaming down his cheeks, and took a deep, massive chomp out of a large chocolate éclair.

Written By TurtleBoy