All for One

Lightening

Dorian woke from his slumber to a bright white light and the loudest crash of thunder he had ever heard. The vibrations of it threw him out of his chair onto the ground, and for a simple moment he had thought that he had died and gone to heaven. 

For three days now the four friends....acquaintances....friends, had lived down here, setting everything up and awaiting the on coming shit storm. This must be the beginning of it. For days the thunder had rolled and rumbled, but the skies had yet to open up. 

Glancing around Dorian found he was not the only one who had been startled awake. Lucas was groaning, half asleep with an arm draped over his eyes. Victor was leaning heavily on the table, rubbing his eyes with both palms of his hands in an irritated way. The only one still sleeping was Edward, who was curled on the floor like a dog; and could sleep through anything. As the others finished waking up Dorian crossed over to where Hyde lay restlessly. He was about to wake him up when a voice stopped him. 

"My friend, let him sleep. He has stood watch over us each night for the three we have been down here." Victor was standing, hands grasping a large chain, ready to pull it. A plague mask rest on top of his head. 

Dorian nodded and ruffled Hyde's hair, who nuzzled his hand. The man left his sleeping friend and went over to assist Victor if it came that any problem should arise. With how everything usually goes...there would be problems. 

Victor flicked a switch and things began to take place. Machines started whirring, dials and lights blinking and spinning. The water below the bed started to boil, and something began to track the closeness of the storm and lightening strikes. A weather balloon was cast to the sky and promptly shot down but a burst of light. With a pull of a lever the roof opened up to let torrents of rain in to the lab; where it would eventually wash down a drain. 

"Now what do we do?" questioned Lucas, who was shaking in anticipation. Hoping to hell and back that this would work. Dorian spared him a little glance, but it was Victor who answered. 

"We wait, we wait until the time is right. You won't be a part of this though, you will simply have to trust me, for this is a delicate procedure."

"Delicate my ass." spat Dorian, who had witnessed this a time or two before. This earned him a glare from Victor who promptly kicked him in the shin.

"Lucas, go sit with Hyde for this." Victor stated, hoping to get the demon out of his hair for a bit. So far the only solace he had gotten from the young man was when they were sleeping. Every waking moment of the day, and through all the preparations the young man was questioning him and causing suspicion for doubt. 

He hesitated, too much worry for the man he had grown to love. In the end he complied and went over and sat on the floor, next to Hyde; and carted his fingers through the tangled hair. The only response he got was a soft grunt as the sleeping man pressed closer to him. 

With Lucas out of his hair, Victor started the procedure. He hoisted the table that Ronald lay on, into the air about half way to the roof. Dorian stood just to the side, waiting for the spontaneous fire to start again, or something to generally go wrong. 

Victor's eyes were trained on his dials, one foot pressed hard against a machine for leverage. He hadn't blinked in the last minute, as if he did, he would miss something important. This stretched one for ten minutes.....Victor watching, Dorian waiting, Lucas fretting, and Edward...sleeping fitfully. 

Then all at once, Victor shifted, it was slight, but it was enough. No more than he had, a dial and flashing light exploded; in which he promptly yanked on the chain; propelling Ronald into the storm above. He lunged quickly, forgetting his soaked clothing from the rain, as he pulled down a lever that let electricity flow through certain parts of the building. 

The table was struck by lightening. Seven times. 

Victor was thrown backwards by an electrical current coursing through his veins and he landed several feet away. Head against his chest. 

Lucas stood up and lunged forward to help, only to be held back by Hyde, who had just awoken. His eyes betrayed him; and reflected a fear that was resonating inside him. 

Dorian was already in action. The table was being lowered, levers turned back down, and glass kicked out of his way. He had not seen lightening strike that many times before and was curious to see if this even worked out at all. This was not the time to worry about that though. 

Within seconds the table had been lowered to the ground, and everything shut off. While the machine cooled, Dorian approached Victor; checking his neck for a pulse. It was there, rather thready, but it was there. The only problem Victor seemed to have was severe burns on the hand that had touched the lever. Dorian carried him over and placed him in one of the spare beds. 

He then approached Ronald, who had a mother hen of a Lucas standing over him. Hyde sat in the background. Checking again for a pulse, he held his breath. Frowning to himself, he checked again. Surely this was not right. He picked up an arm, and checked on the wrist. No, the evidence was there. 

He looked sadly at Lucas, whose eyes filled with anger, animosity, then grief and tears spilled out of them. Turning Dorian thrust another potion into Lucas' hand, telling him to drink it as he turned back to Ronald. 

'Maybe it didn't work because of him being a Shinigami...maybe it was the amount of lightening that struck?' He thought to himself. Never before had this not worked, sure...the product might have gone a little hay wire...but it always worked. Dorian was pulled from his thoughts at the thump he heard as Lucas fell to the ground, fast asleep from the potion Dorian had given him. 

Carefully Dorian picked him up and carried him to the other spare bed, before he sadly kissed him on the forehead and pulled the blankets to his chin. He shook his head sadly, as he moved on to more carefully check over Victor. He found that the burns on his hand were fairly severe. 

He moved to find some bandage or wrap for it, which was kept by the main table. As he was scrounging to find it he heard a cough, and then someone spluttering. Carefully he stood up and turned around to find Ronald choking on the water that had filled his mouth while he was in the sky. 

After a moments hesitation he leaped forward, turn the young Shinigami onto his side and rubbing circles on his back. He whispered words that offered solace to the pain the two toned man was in. Ronald was still unconscious it seemed, though his body did expel itself of the water. As Dorian layed him back down, he checked again for a pulse. He found none, but the faint breath of the young man tickled his cheek. 

He chuckled to himself, as he scooped up the Shinigami and laid him in the bed with Lucas, smiling sadly at the both of them. Then he proceeded to wrap Victor's hand in the bandages. 

Once all his deeds were done he walked quietly over to Edward; who was sitting stock still, his knees pulled up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them. As he he placed a hand on the man's shoulder he flinched away from the touch as if he had been burned.

Dorian left and returned moments later with a needle filled with a potion of sleep that he had quickly mixed together. Edward was special, he had the gift of sight; he could see things as he walked through his dreams and into the reality of what others were facing. Sadly, Dorian inserted the needle into the side of his friend's neck, earning him a hiss of pain at the prick of it. As it began to take affect, Edward fought it, with all he his power, he fought it; but he could not escape it. As his eyes finally drifted into sleep he let out a whimper of pain. Dorian shifted his friend so that his head lay in his lap as he ran his fingers lightly over his sweat slicked brow, humming a song about the fall of kingdoms. 

Edward was vaguely aware of what Dorian had done as he opened his eyes to his dreams. He was trapped here, in the reality of the four who could only see darkness and cells; who could only feel pain and suffering. His dreams were a warning from the four who were suffering without an end in sight, and whose hope had just faded from sight.