After Dark

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The Reaper groaned forcing himself to fly again. He wasn't sure how long he'd been working. Counting days and nights didn't work when he as traveling the globe. He was hungry and exhausted, but he kept pushing. He hadn't seen Jack and missed him. He couldn't wait to go home and sleep next to him.

Matthew landed next to the body. He tripped over his own feet, but caught himself. It woke him up slightly. He carefully crouched down next to the body. The child had died in a flood when his mother had drove onto a flooded road. There had been warnings across the roads, but she ignored them and it cost her three year old sons life. The boy was worried about his mother. The Canadian reassured him that she was safe and fine. The soul was happy and swirled away. He felt bad knowing the search teams probably wouldn't be able to find the body for a couple months. It had been swept down stream and caught in a tangle of underbrush.

The Reaper yawned and stretched waiting for the next soul. There wasn't one. He was relieved, but didn't know how long he had. He flew a little way until he found a nice tree. He landed and settled quickly. He fell asleep almost as soon as he closed his eyes. He wasn't sure how long it had been when he woke up.

The wind had woken him. It was strong and almost blew him out of the tree. Matthew shivered slightly with a smile feeling the colder breeze. He decided to fly home. He assumed the wave was over and couldn't wait to be in cold air. He jumped out of the tree and started flying to the pole. The Canadian hummed happily as he went further north.

Matthew relaxed as he spotted the pole in the distance. He would normally land on one of the roofs and go through a window, but the arctic winds were strong today. He landed at the front door and was greeted by two yetis. He smiled back as a greeting.

The Canadian started towards the kitchen. He wanted to go to bed, but knew he should eat just encase the wave kicked up again. As he was walking, Kumakuro found him. He paused and pet the bear and Kumakuro stood up to give him a bear hug. He hummed happily as they started towards the kitchen. They got there and it was empty. He was a bit disappointed that Jack or North weren't there. He hadn't properly spoken to anyone in weeks.

Matthew hummed grabbing all the ingredients for pancakes. Kumakuro was excited and kept trying to steal any food he could. The Canadian made a few pancakes for the bear before he made his own. He sat at the counter and drenched his pancakes in maple syrup. He started to eat quickly, but forced himself to slow down. He didn't want to get sick. He did his dishes before walking towards their room.

The Reaper pouted seeing Jack wasn't there. He went over to their bed and curled up. He thought about waiting up, but he needed to sleep just encase. He pulled their fluffy blanket up and closed his eyes. Kumakuro jumped up onto the bed and curled up behind his legs. He smiled feeling the warmth as he fell asleep.

—-❄️"I've realised now that rank number one isn't an achievement; it's a prison which forces you to dedicate your life to defending a temporary title."❄️—-

Matthew blinked awake and looked around. He had no idea what time it was or how long he'd been sleeping. It felt like a long time. He gently felt around the bed, but already knew Jack wasn't there. He was sad and felt lonely. He sighed sitting up.

Kumakuro let out a whine as he moved. The Canadian smiled seeing the old bear look up at him. He decided he wasn't ready to get up and laid back down next to Kumakuro. The bear was happy that he was staying. He rested his big head on Matthew's chest. The pair fell back asleep again.

When he woke, he felt better rested. He sat up to the bear's disappointment. He couldn't resist and started to pet him. He hummed running his hands through his fur. Kumakuro turned to let him pet his stomach. He rubbed and pet his belly. When the bear had enough, he warned him by nipping his hand. The Reaper scratched his ears before standing up. Kumakuro hopped off the bed to follow him.

Matthew left their room and went to look for North. He wasn't sure were the Guardian would be since it was getting close to Christmas. He knew he was probably on the building floor inspecting toys. He'd ask a yeti, but didn't want to bother them. He spent a while just wandering with Kumakuro before he spotted North.

"Matthew!" The Russian called spotting him. He waved him over to where he was speaking with a yeti. The Reaper recognized him as Phil. As soon as he was close enough, North pulled him into a hug. "How long have you been back? You were gone for a long time!"

"Yeah." The Canadian said. "And I'm not sure. Maybe yesterday or the day before? I slept so I don't really know." He knew Phil was waiting and didn't want to take up too much of the Guardian's time. "Have you seen Jack?"

"No, not today." North frowned. Matthew sighed. "It's been a few days. I'm sure he'll be home soon."

The Canadian nodded sadly. "If you see him, tell him I'm on the roof."

"Of course!" North smiled reassuringly patting his back.

Matthew gave him an appreciative smile. He quickly told Kumakuro where he was going. He flew up into the rafters and went to the window. He opened it and a gust of wind immediately blew snow in his face. He forgot it had been windy yesterday. He thought it would have died down by now. He sighed and stepped out on to the roof anyways. He quickly closed the window shut behind him.

The Reaper hummed to himself sitting next to the window up against the wall. He looked to the sky as the sun broke through the clouds. The warmth felt nice on his face. He sighed bringing a wing in front of himself. He started to preen. It had been a while and his feathers were bothering him.

After Matthew had been stabbed by Pitch years ago, Jack had taken to preening his feathers. The winter spirit liked doing something for him. The Canadian didn't mind, he loved the feeling of Jack touching his feathers. It was calming and helped him fall asleep easier.

The Reaper huffed in annoyance. The wind was constantly blowing. It was ruffling through his feathers. It kept messing up and practically undoing any work he had done. The wind wasn't normally this bad unless Jack was near by. He hoped he was. He looked around watching the sky, but didn't spot him. The wind was doing it on its own.

"Wind?" Matthew asked. He had no idea if the wind would actually understand him. He knew he didn't understand the wind. "Are you okay? You seem mad."

The wind immediately blew directly at his face. The Canadian jumped in surprise. He hadn't expected a response. The wind grew stronger and almost blew him off the roof. He quickly spread his wings to catch himself just encase the wind blew at him again. It did and he yelped in surprise. The wind didn't just drop him. It started to carry him. Matthew realized the wind wanted him to go somewhere. He let the wind carry him. He was starting to worry. The wind hadn't done anything like this before.

AN: Sorry for the late update! Had 3 projects due on the same day and forgot to upload.