Ashburn
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The past week for Ash had been absolute hell. Within a day of their last lesson Ash had been forced to take up cussing and using french to complain, so that he could vent at least some of his frustration. According to Mrs. Mabel he had entered stage three, and his body was dealing with his human organs.

Despite his immense pain he had been putting on a strong face, or at least as strong as he could. He found that by focusing he efforts on helping Eric, he could distract himself from the pain to a tolerable level, and had abused this fact by babying him to help both of them through the ordeal.

Throughout the past week Ash had literally thrown up what looked like an appendix (And half a digestive tract) into the small bathroom that adjoined their cell, and had all four of his wisdom teeth come in and fall out. The latter had brought him to tears more than once, sobbing as they basically rotted and fell out. A couple of days ago, after the last tooth fell out he had started to feel better, but was still in horrible pain. In the mirror across from them he watched his body develop even further. He had developed a second set of eyelids, clear ones behind his real ones that could open and close independently. He also had grown a few more inches, stopping at 6' 6", his muscles bulking enough for him to have a strong swimmer's build. Even still though he had lost a great deal of weight, almost thirty pounds. For some reason though he didn't feel worried. His soul seemed to tell him it was a change in his bones (OOC his bones are becoming lighter and tougher).

----

Ashburn sat, mouth agape at all the revaluations he had just been given. His mind struggled to process all that he had just learned, as he tried to even think about its implications. Not to mention everything about the types of demons, and their special powers.

"Can you tell if we have powers?" He asked softly, still feeling weak from all the changes he was enduring

"Not until you have fully manifested" Was Mrs. Mabel's stark reply

OOC: Disregard this post I put it in the wrong tab

Eric
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Eric did not know what to do with his life. The pain had been over the roof this last week, things were happening with him that he still did not believe. Stuff was going down that he did not even want to think about. He had grown to a unrealistic size and had to sit down most of the time. His bones and muscles had re-warped them selves too fit his new size, that was not fun at all. He had gotten bigger too, well more muscular, he looked like a giant on steroids, and getting those guns hurt like hell. One day when he looked in the mirror his eyes had changed color to this piercing silver, and it scared him to say the least, he was screaming like a little girl and Ash had to come in and calm him down. Something was different though, even though he was going through pain he could feel his strength coming back with each gut wrenching experience 10 fold.
-----

He set there looking drowsy as he listened to Mabel. He like the sound of Invulnerability, but he did not like the sound of this soul mate. What if his life got tied to some irresponsible idiot who was always putting himself in dangerous situations. Eric cringed at the thought and then relaxed again.

He felt like crap again, his body was starting ton act weird again. The skin on his body had started to change colors and falling off only to be replace by something else. It was not normal and he thought this must be what snakes felt like when they shed their skin. \

"No.....I'm good, but when does this whole skin thing stop I don't think I have any more space to put the dead stuff." He said while he looked at Mabel with one eye open.

Mabel
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Mabel laughed at the question, a thick hearty laugh that seemed out of place coming out of a beautiful woman

"H*ll if I know Eric. All I can tell you is that you're not going to be done for about a month, maybe a little less since you are a guardian. As for your skin, well I'll find a solution." Noting the creaking cot, and the fact that both boy's pants were at the breaking point she added "and I'll find something better for you to sleep on and wear. Because I am NOT going to be in a room with a bunch of naked men."

Checking her watch she realized she had been down there for almost an hour.

"look you know the routine. Dishes by the door I've got a diner to run." She said, hurrying upsairs

Ashburn
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As Mrs. Mabel finished her spiel Ash looked over to Eric and blushed before looking back at his legs. He hadn't really noticed before but they were fitting pretty tight. His jeans were looser than Eric's pants but were still snug, and way to short.

Ash lay back and thought to himself quietly.

'Why is it I blushed' he asked himself in his head 'its not like I haven't seen guys naked before. So why would I blush?'

He closed his eyes as he reflected, his overactive mind working out the puzzle. For that matter he hadn't even told Eric he was gay. A decade of living in Alabama had made him accustomed to not talking about it, even though it was fairly obvious. It just wasn't a natural thing to talk about for him, and the last thing he wanted was for Eric to think he was hitting on him.

'Damn it Ash. Your whole body is f*cking transforming and you just found out you're a demon. Why is romance even in your head? It should be the last thing on your mind.' he beat himself verbally.

Ash looked over at Eric, and his forlorn expression. Forcing a smile he said

"You're lucky in one aspect Eric" He said calmly, with a slight quiver in his voice "You get to have a soul mate. Someone who you can literally share a mind with and be as close as two people can be. And you know what man? I'm happy for you. After everything you've gone through you deserve a girl like that."

Though as he said the word "girl" he could feel a small pang in his heart. 'I am not feeling anything. Eric surely wouldn't like me, and good because I don't like him' he said to himself softly. A mantra he had been repeating for days, and believing less and less each day.

Eric
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Eric sat there and tugged on his jeans after her comment. She as right, he was starting to fit them a little tighter and could use a replacement. "A shirt too, if you could." he said as she rushed out, hoping that she heard him.

Another month of this pain, who knows what comes next. Eric was starting to go crazy because of what was happening, have you ever held your own kidneys in your hands. He did, or at least that is what they looked like when he threw them to a corner. He had started to collect the remnants of his "body" and began to put them in a corner, he felt bad for Ash because he was probably going through something worse than him but all he can do is tidy himself up.

Eric looked up from his depression when Ash started to talk. The boy had been a god send these past couple of months. Every time he spoke it was like a distraction from the never ending pain he was going through, and he did despite his poor looking condition. Poor but attractive. Eric had never shared his preferences with anyone before, but he like both men and women, although most men don't approach him.

"You're lucky in one aspect Eric. You get to have a soul mate. Someone who you can literally share a mind with and be as close as two people can be. And you know what man? I'm happy for you. After everything you've gone through you deserve a girl like that." Ash said with a calm tone.

"Well I don't quiet know how I feel about this soul mate thing, but girls I have not had much thoughts about recently.....well relationships in general have been a gray area." He said with some German accent kicking in, it did not register what he said until after he ad said it. He was telling the truth, men, women, they whole dating and sex thing was not a priority, college was, and getting set up on his feet was, and worrying his parents was, and dying was, but now becoming a demon was on the list too. Plus he did not know how the whole sex thing would work, he was a virgin for one, and some "things" started to change and Eric did not know if this was normal for demons. He wanted to ask Mabel but Ash was in the room and Eric was scared of what Ash would think of him. They are literally dying from the inside out and he is thinking about Eric #2. He would ask Mabel telepathically the next time she came to give them food.

"Sooooooo.....What about you and your love life, any girl friends, boy friends, what ever your preferences." Eric said with as much enthusiasm he could muster.

Ashburn
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Ash blushed for a moment, his smile looking forced now. Hoping Eric hadn't noticed he turned to face the ceiling. It took a moment for him to collect his thoughts, before he said

"Well I've had a few crushes but never really any relationships. As I said before I was born in Montreal so my family never pressured me to conform to the typical American mold of a man. I even kissed a guy, well neighborhood kid, when I was 6. It never really alarmed my parents, after all Canada is very open minded and being gay was seen as normal and at worst something worth a couple of laughs." Ash smiled at the memories of living in Montreal as a kid "But moving to Alabama changed that, or at least in the community. Gulfport was a proud confederate stronghold, complete with the KKK meeting in the town hall as if it was normal. So my sexuality was quickly buried, by both me and my parents. I pretended to date one girl, but she was just a friend and she moved away leaving me friendless soon after... Sorry I shouldn't bore you with my sob stories. It wasn't all bad, after all I read every book in the library and well porn is worth something"

Ash laughed at his cheap joke, doing his best not to look at Eric. He had just said it, he was gay. And his heart was racing loudly as he waited for their friendship to fall apart around him. But he'd had to say it, he didn't know why but he felt like he had to.

Eric
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Eric's heart went out to Ash he could not even try to fathom what kind of abuse he has had to go through with his life in Alabama. He did not have to worry about his family that much, if he really wanted to he could just fly away and go stay with a relative.

"Well porn does have its uses." He said with a dark chuckle. What dark? Were did that come from.

"Well I am sad that you had to go through that, my family was cool with me being bisexual, and the only person who was awkward was my dad. But I am sure that you will get a great guy who likes you for you, I mean your not ugly Ash, so smile some more ok and stop holding things over your head so much, its not good for you." He said with a smile, the boy still looked stunned, he probably thought that Eric was going to reject him or something. Ash needed a friend, no he needed a brother, and Eric would be that or more if it went in that direction. Something in his heart and soul knew that was the truth.

Eric got up with pain and sat on Ash's cot and ruffled his hair. "Now breath boy, everybody likes you here, so stop worrying." He said with a smile and a thicker German accent than usual.

Ashburn
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Ash smiled and blushed at the same time, his pale skin turning to the color of strawberries. His skin had become even more pale in the past few weeks, and this only made the effect more dramatic. His face showed his dramatic relief at not being rejected, which looked almost comical through his glasses.

"Well I don't know about Mrs. Mabel" Ash joked "If she liked me she'd bring some fries to dip in those shakes"

Ash could feel a small touch in his mind. At first he didn't notice but it started to buzz in his ear. Looking around curiously he tried to find the source of the buzz. It was the oddest cross between a buzz, and a really bad reception on a cellphone. Ash tried pulling his long black hair behind his ears, but it didn't seem to have any effect. He turned to face Eric and said, with his face full of confusion

"Do you hear that too or am I going crazy?"

Eric
________________

Eric saw Ash blush and he smiled and blushd too. He had a deeper laugh than usual.

"I know, some fries would be good, and I hope she does not burn the pancakes again."

Soon after he could feel a pull on his mind. It started out weak but got stronger and soon started to buzz in his head. He did not want to say anything but soon Ash mentioned it. When he turned to face Ash their faces were a little to close and he blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"Ya, ummm...I hear it to it keeps getting louder." He blushed harder and started to look every where put at Ash. He did not know how attractive the boy was until now and it made him feel weird.

"Should we look for were it is coming from?"

Ashburn
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"Ya. I'd say so." Ash replied distractedly "I hope it isn't something like an electrical problem."

Ash slowly got up, blushing when he accidentally bumped into Eric "sorry" he said as he walked towards the light switches by the entrance. But as he got closer the buzz got quieter.

Ash started walking towards the bathroom and the noise got louder as he passed Eric but quieter as he approached the bathroom.

"Hey Eric. I don't think it's the switches the noise is quieter over here" Ash declared puzzled

When he walked back towards Eric it became louder than before. Looking up Ash stared at the fluorescent lighting above each cot.

"Does it sound like a light to you?" Ash asked even more confused than when he started

Eric
_________________________________

Eric shook his head and enjoyed the feeling of them touching for that short moment. He started to look around and as Ash got further away the buzzing got quieter. But when he came back towards the bathroom the buzzing got quieter. When Ash came back it got really loud again, and Eric connected the dots.

"No it does not." He said as he got up and stood in front of Ash with a blush. He did not need to be genius to see that it had something to do with him and Ash. He pulled him into a huge and the buzzing got so loud that it started to settle to a hum.

"I think that it has to do with us, I mean think about it, every time you walked by it got louder and quieter." He said with a smile. Something inside of him knew what this was but he could not come to terms with it just yet.

Ashburn
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Ash blushed when Eric came so close, biting his lip and trying to ignore Eric's strong build. He thought about what he'd said. Of course there was merit to his point, after all it didn't seem like anything in the room was flickering or behaving weird in any other way. Not to mention the noise was as loud as a diesel engine in his ear now that Eric was so close. He enjoyed being so close to Eric, somehow it just felt right.

As he thought he focused on the sound, trying to isolate its tones. Ash held his breath as he began to decode some of its qualities. It seemed as if the noise was attached to something, like a cable that led from his head. Tentatively he opened his mind a little, curiosity being as strong as it was. The sound seemed to grow quieter as he allowed more of the cable into his head. As if the noise was focusing into something understandable.

"I think you're right" Ash said shakily, as the connection became more apparent. Unbeknownst to Ash however the connection was allowing Eric access to his feelings right now. His nervousness at Eric being so close, his excitement at the same, the romantic feelings he was starting to develop, mixed in with a cesspool of emotions from his transformation, all beginning to go across the thin connection. Along with the fact Ash had been holding his breath to long and his lungs were crying out for air, with Ash to preoccupied in this puzzle to notice.

Devon
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Devon turned around as Mabel finally came back from the owner's suite after a full hour.

"Geez now I know why you needed three plates" He joked loudly, hoping that somehow she hadn't actually eaten those burned pancakes.

"I don't recall asking for your opinion." Mabel retorted "Now go home. It is about time for the dinner chef to come in anyway"

Eager to escape this place Devon happily complied, quickly briefing her on what had been ordered (just a bowl of soup since it was only 3PM) and left.

Once in the safety of his car, a late model Ford sedan painted white, he let out a sigh of relief. Starting the car his thoughts went back to Ashburn's truck sitting in the garage.

The drive home seemed forever as Devon pondered on what it was he should do. If he confronted her about it she might be able to offer a reasonable answer, like him selling it or something. But on the other hand something just had never seemed right, and this just made things worse. Even though he was always in the kitchen he had occasionally glanced into the dining area, on the way to the bathroom mostly, and it was just unbelievably shady. The customers had all been cloaked, even in summer, and some appeared to be huge. Much bigger than anyone he had ever seen before. People mostly spoke in hushed whispers and even at peak hours only a few customers that were normal would ever show up.

Even the employees seemed weird. They were always strong personalities and their briefings included not asking questions, and turn over seemed very low. As if they enjoyed working here, despite all of them complaining in the break room endlessly.

With a sigh he pulled out his cellphone, looking up to make sure there were no cops, and he flipped it open. It was an old phone, a simple flip model with no fancy buttons. He'd never liked the whole smartphone thing and never jumped on board. Solemnly he dialed on the phone and put it to his ear

"9-1-1 what's your emergency?" Came the voice of a perky woman over the phone

Eric
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Eric smiled at his words. He felt amazing, on cloud nine, something inside of him felt like it burst open and he could feel a wave of someone else's emotions nervousness, excitement, romantic feelings, and a slight pain in his lungs but he did not know why. He smiled at all of these cute emotions and then looked down at Ash.

"You know you can breath right." Eric said with a chuckle. He pressed his forehead to Ash's and inhaled his scent. It made Eric feel comfortable and now he sort of felt complete too, but something was still missing. He got light-headed for a moment and fell back into the cot, the pain caught up to him and he wore a bitter smile while it racked through his body.

"There it is! Well the pain is back now, Ash to be honest I don't think that I can deal with this pain for another month." He said and looked up at his mate.

Mabel
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The ringing of the phone interrupted the mostly quiet diner. It was to early in the evening to be full but late enough to have about a dozen cloaked figures.

"Yo" Mabel said, taking the old corded phone off the hook. Since they technically didn't have a business license she never answered with the diner name. Besides the only people that called were demons since it was an unlisted number, and formality wasn't exactly a thing for them.

"Mabel?!" Shrieked a high female voice on the other line.

"Maria?" Mabel asked confused. Maria was a vampire class demon that worked at the police headquarters for the city. She was a secretary so she always knew what was going on, and would warn them whenever the police were heading their way. It was normally only every three years, when the mayors would try to crack down on crime before election season. This is why Mabel was confused, the elections were two years away and Maria never sounded panicked. For them it was business as normal anyway.

"Oh my god Mabel I don't know what you did but you've really done it now!" Maria cried into the phone

"Just chill the f*ck out and brief me" Mabel replied, not in the mood for theatrics.

Maria's frantic breathing slowed slightly as she tried to calm down "Three boys have been reported missing by their schools and family, and at least one of them is calling daily." Maria began, talking quickly but mostly clear “Someone just called into 9-1-1 saying you might have kidnapped them…. They are sending in the SWAT team Mabel. The f*cking SWAT team!”

“F*cking sh*t” Mabel swore “How long do we have?”

“10 minutes at best” Maria replied

Mabel cussed again and hung up the phone, hanging up so hard that she smashed the phone into pieces
“Everyone time to go. We’re being raided!” Mabel shouted into the dining hall. As if a switch had been flipped the dining hall went from muted to a riot. Tables and dishes flew as people bolted for the door, their inhuman speed carrying them away like a demon chased by a holy man.

The human employees, the hostess, a waiter and the chef ran into the room to see what all the ruckus was. The chef, an old white man, had been there long enough to know not to ask questions. He’d been through two raids so he already knew what to do. Grabbing the hostess and one of the waiters by their shirt collars he dragged them into the break room, to get them out before the cops showed up.

Not wasting a moment Mabel ran to the bathroom and down the stairs, sending a telepathic message to one of the owners. Before she had even finished explaining the situation she sensed they were on the move, fleeing their diner in a hurry.

Without a second to spare she wrenched open the door to the transformation room.

“Alright boys time to go” She shouted like a drill sergeant. She cussed loudly as she remembered that Zack was still unconscious and thus not able to move himself. Resigned to protecting just the two awake demon children she literally carried Ash, leaving Eric to follow as she hauled the lightweight 21 year old up the stairs and outside to the garage.

Panic, fear of falling, pain where she is carrying him and confusion

Not even bothering to open the lock the ripped the door open and slammed the garage door opener to open their escape. Setting Ash down she said “drive to 1638 Malmar road. Tell them Mabel sent you.”

Mabel crammed the truck keys into Ash’s hands and ran through the now open garage door back into the diner.

Confusion and worry

Ashburn
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Confusion, panic, trying to be calm

Shakily Ash unlocked the old truck and started the ignition. The loud roar of the ancient diesel engine filled the small space as he waited for Eric to join him.

Unsure what to do

Eric
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Eric jumped at the sound of Mabel. When she announced that it was time to go Eric got scared. He wondered what was so bad that they could not stay in the bunker. In a flash she had Ash over her shoulder and up the stairs, Eric followed faster than normal.

Once in the garage she gave them a address and left them there. He looked at Ash and climbed in the car after him, and sat in the seat. "Well let's go." He could feel Ash's uncertainty and sent him a reassuring smile.

Ashburn
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"Well let's go"

That was all the motivation Ash needed, his trance broken he put the truck in reverse and drove down the alley. Once on the main street Ash remembered that he had not buckled his seat belt and quickly did so. Ash's truck moved jumpily down the road, every bump sending both their heads into the ceiling, only amplifying his pain. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw them reflected in a pane of glass.

They looked terrible. Ash's long black hair was plastered against his skull from over a month of shampoo-less showers, and his face was so pale it looked more like porcelain than flesh. Not to mention both of them were shirtless and barefoot.

Embarrassment, confusion, fear

'Should we be doing this? Should we trust her? Maybe I should just keep driving. Canada is only a few hundred miles and I have enough gas.' He thought to himself

"Um... My GPS is in the glove compartment. Do you think you could get it out for me?" Ash said shakily, trying to put on a strong face.

weak, tired, sore, upset, sad, confused

Eric
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Eric looked liked a over-sized doll in a little car. Had a hard time getting in the truck and the ride was not smooth at all. The road was not helping at all, it was super bumpy for no reason at all and Eric was hating it, he really did want to punch the ground for all the pain it was causing him right now.

He looked at Ash and saw that he was looking at his own reflection so Eric did too. He looked like a older, taller, buffer version of his last reflection. He had dirt and dried blood in some of the places his body had change. His once amazing curls were now sticky and nasty, begging for a shower like the rest of his body. He really did not know why Ash had put up with him looking like this.

Calm, Confused, Cautions, Worried

While he sat there he heard someone that sounded like Ash but from his head. 'Should we be doing this? Should we trust her? Maybe I should just keep driving. Canada is only a few hundred miles and I have enough gas.'

"Yes we should, there must be a good reason that we had to leave, plus I don't want to spend my last few months of this whole transformation without some kind of super-vision. But I will say this, after this whole thing is over, maybe we should go to Canada, I really wanna try some bacon."

He said the last part with a painful chuckle as another bump in the road sent his head into the ceiling. More and more he found himself trying to reassure Ash in any way. he found himself trying to make sure that he was alright and that he would not have t deal wit any problems, Eric wanted to make his world as safe as possible and right now he was on edge because Ash was on edge.

Tired, sore, edgy, confused, hungry

Ashburn
_________________

Risking taking his eyes off the road Ash looked at Eric, his face expressing his confusion plainly.

'How did he know I thought that? Did I say it out loud? I guess I did. Well that's embarrassing'

His mind snapping back to the task at hand, namely driving through city traffic, he sat quietly for a moment. A gurgling stomach from beside him made Ash chuckle, poor Eric must be hungry. Ash's parental personality kicked in, he had the bad habit of caring to much about people and right now that was on clear display.

Eyeing the roads edge he spotted a drive through burger joint, and pulled in gently, though their heads still managed to hit the ceiling of the truck.

'I seriously need to get a full sized truck'

Hand cranking his window, while swearing as the movement brought his arm sharp pain, he addressed the speaker box outside.

"Two double cheeseburgers please." He said

"Anything else for you?" The box squawked back with a male voice

"No thank you" He replied, southern accent kicking in. He knew how much money he had in the truck, and it was just enough to cover the food.

As he waited for his turn in the line Ash put the truck in park. As he reached into the visor to get down his money he saw his back seat in the vanity mirror and gasped. He had two old jackets back there, the ones he kept on hand in case he got cold. Forgetting the money for a moment he reached back and grabbed them both.

One of them was an over glorified sweater, stained from being worn while fixing the truck for years it smelled terrible. But, it was oversized and baggy, just the right size to fit Ash's current size. The second was a huge XL hoodie, with the Quebec flag on it. Below the flag said "Je suis Canadien Francais". It was his favorite piece of clothing and was one of the only things he had left from Quebec (he'd gotten it on a return trip to visit). But it was the only thing that would fit Eric so with some reluctance he offered it to Eric, after returning to a proper seated position.

"Here. You might not want the cashier to see your body" He blushed as he again took in Eric's beautiful body. The hoodie would be a tight fit, and definitely short but it was better than nothing.

He struggled into his own jacket and after fighting the zipper managed to get it to close, though it was now so tight you could still see his chest in full definition.

"Oh and the GPS is in the glove compartment if you could put in the address." Ash said as he pulled forward to be the second car in line.

Various memories, nostalgia and slightly turned on