Part Two, Chapter Two

I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed

Get along with the voices inside of my head

You're trying to save me, stop holding your breath

And you think I'm crazy, yeah, you-

Ivan turned off the radio as he pulled into the diner he ate at every morning. It was small off the side of the road, only five or six customers every morning, usually with the same orders. He liked this place for one thing and one thing only: the waitress.

"Hello hun, what can I get for you today?" Her voice always brightened his mood. He looked up to her, she looked so much like her, Katyusha. Every morning it was like seeing a ghost, but for some odd reason it comforted him to see her there. She had the same short hair, same color, same color eyes, same body type, everything but her voice matched, but even that was in the soft tone she used to talk in. But she wasn't his sister, just some girl working her way through med school, and he knew that… but the term "rebirth" always came up in his mind when he saw her.

"Usual please." Ivan smiled slightly at her.

"Coming up." She grinned then went to do her job. Ivan sat there waiting patiently, putting his hands together and letting out a deep breath.

American officials are still looking for Matthew Williams, Ivan turned toward the TV, who disappeared one year ago… he tried to tune the TV out but he couldn't help but listen, Matthew would be 18 years old, about 5'9, blonde-orange hair, violet eyes, he tried so hard to tune it out, turning back to the counter and watching the works do their job, trying his best to tune it out… but when he heard Alfred's voice, he couldn't stand it anymore, Please! Matthew is like a brother to me, he's our family, please I'm begging you! We're beg-

"Here you are hun," The waitress sat down a coffee and a plate of eggs and a slice of Canadian bacon. Ivan snapped out of his guilty daze and quickly thanked the woman.

He drank his coffee in silence, his eyes glued to the wall, not wanting to look around at any of the faces surrounding him. He lost his appreciate but quickly ate and left money for the bill and generous tip. Back into the truck he went, driving in silence into the woods so close to the diner. He stopped in a small field, next to several other trucks, then got out throwing his coat on, then wrapped his scarf on tighter. He grabbed an axe from the back and followed up the small path up into the woods through the dirt and mud.

He's our family, please I'm begging you! We're… Ivan couldn't get that boy's desperate voice out of his head… its been a year already?... he thought to himself. He knew that was good news though, a year had passed and they still had no trace of them. He figured as much, in America they had his face and info everywhere, while in Canada no one really recognized him. Another American kid missing, it wasn't their problem, especially after a year. He still couldn't believe it though…

He met up with the other men waiting for him, then the yells of timber, the chopping sounds of the wood, the crashing of trees, it all filled the forest. His entire time working, he couldn't help but think how much time had passed… and for what?

When the work day was over, Ivan was one of the first ones to leave. He drove home in silence still, the thoughts taking over his mind. Why did he feel so… guilty? Its not like he just kidnapped the boy, Matthew wanted to leave! But still… it didn't feel right, not one bit. He pulled up home to the small log cabin, only a single light on in the house. Ivan turned the car off, not moving afterwards, only staring at the light. Was this… all worth it?...

Ivan walked inside, finding the fireplace was low on wood and about to burn out, their only source of heat! He quickly threw more wood on and got the fire going again before it fully went out. Matthew should have been taking care of this, he thought. He sighed then realized he just dragged a bunch of mud in on his shoes because he hadn't taken them off at the door. He rushed back to the door and took the boots off. It was quiet, like no one was home, you could probably hear the damn snow fall. He walked around a little bit, looking to see if anything had been done. The dishes from yesterday sat in the sink still, everything else completely unused. Ivan frowned as he turned the sink on and threw some soap on the dishes, it was better to at least let them sink.

He walked toward the bedroom, opening the door to total darkness. His heart dropped. He saw Matthew curled up in the center of bed, his knees to his chest, holding onto that stuffed bear of his that he just had to take with him. Now, it seems like he never lets it go. He thought the boy would at least be sleeping, but when he turned to take a look at Matthews face, he was expressionless as he stared blankly at the wall in front of him. "Matvey…" Ivan said softly, the boy didn't move, "Matvey did you eat today?" The boy didn't even look at him. Ivan took a deep breath, "Matvey aren't you at least cold? Do you want a blanket?"

Its like he wasn't even there…

How much had changed… in that one year… how happy he was compared to now..

20 months ago….

Ivan awoke to the sounds of beeping, the sounds of the TV on its lowest volume. He blinked a couple times, trying to get his vision clear at least, then slowly turned his head to look at the room around him, seeing a nurse standing there writing on his chart. What was this place? A hospital? This place was nothing like he remembered… the walls were cream colored, there were windows that let the sun shine in, he could see through the doors- and they slid! Oh… how different all this was, machines he never saw before, he couldn't say what they were if his life depended on it… Where was he? How did he even get here?... everything seemed blank.

He remembered… he remembered practically crawling into the hospital, soaked in blood and through the pain of the burns. He remembered the pain… he remembered it worsening, his newly beating heart pounding in his chest as his lungs suffocated from the smoke that took over them. He saw men and women in white coats… and collapsed in front of them.

He lived, obviously, that's why he laid in this bed. But he couldn't understand it, he was suppose to die… He tried to move but the pain, wires, tubes and needles in him stopped him. He stayed still then looked at the nurse. "Where… where am I?" He asked, his heavy accent on top up his mumbling made him barely understandable.

"The hospital." The nurse answered. "You were in some kind of accident and you were hurt very badly." Ivan closed his eyes and just listened to her. "The police have been waiting for you to wake up and ask you some questions, but the doctor said you need to rest for another day before you answer any questions. However, I do need your name."

Ivan hesitated, "Ivan."

"Ivan what?"

He hesitated even more, "M-Matthews…" he passed out again.

The next time he awoke he was alone and his clothing were in a plastic bag next to his bed. He slowly sat up in his bed, looking around until his eyes caught something; the nurse was talking to cops, then pointing toward his room.

Ivan knew what he had to do.

Painfully, he sat up from the bed and took the wires and tubes out, blood splattered when he pulled the tubes out. The pain he was already suffering through seemed to cancel out the smaller one though. He grabbed the plastic bag and secretly sneaked out of the room, then hid into the bathroom before the doctors could get to his room and find him missing. In the stall, he removed the hospital gown and started changing into his clothes, seeing the blood and burned parts, he tried to at least clean out the blood with water. In the middle of doing that, alarms went off. Hospital Lock Down, Hospital Lock Down, he heard. He did what he could, his scarf hid a lot of the spots anyway, then wondered out and into the staircase close by. His body ached as he climbed down the stairs, he could feel his lungs struggling for air as he stopped and leaned against the wall to catch his breath again. He tried again, his body begging him to stop, but he wouldn't listen. He needed to get out, now. He came to the basement where the ambulances were parked, but he couldn't figure out what those cars were if they were even cars. Best bet, he jumped into the back of one and huddled up in the front corner, catching his breath and trying to regain some strength. He jumped slightly when he heard paramedics jump into the front of the car, turning on the blasting sirens. Ivan covered his ears, the sounds made his ears ring.

When it came to a complete stop, Ivan prepared himself. He heard the paramedics get out, grabbing their bags and running into some house. Ivan carefully stood up and began looking through the medical supplies, grabbing some for his wounds or whatever he thought would help, especially pain killers. He opened the back carefully, peeked out, then climbed out. He began to fast walk down the street, panting still from the amount stress that he put on his body. He walked until it was safe.

He found shelter that took anyone in. That night, there he was, laying on a coat surrounded by a new generation of people. He fell asleep easily, his body still aching. Soon enough, he was there every night. He began to see Matthew on the TV, almost on all stations, and himself as a monster. The more his wounds healed though, the less and less he began to see of Matthew.

Every day he went out and did some grunt work for anyone willing to pay, making twenty or even fifty bucks a day. Every night, he went back to the shelter for his only meal and bed. Just like that, weeks began to pass… it turned into months. Every day was long, frustrating, and exhausting. Working when your wounds aren't even completely healed was a terrible thing to do.

Finding Matthew was the only thing that kept him going….

But now…

Ivan placed a blanket on the boy and sat down next to him, looking at what seemed to be a emotionless face. He reached over to pet the boy's head when suddenly he snapped, grabbing Ivan's hand and lifting his head up toward Ivan. He held on tightly as Matthew stared into his eyes. Ivan tried to pull away, he looked down at his wrist being pulled then shot his eyes back up when he thought he heard a voice. He looked around the room for some mysterious figure here.

He could almost swear he heard someone talk… someone say…

"Its not over"