Heat Haze

Seal the Deal

A/N

Late or early upload? That's up for you to decide. A bit of a warning in this one, mainly because there's mention of blood towards the end. Like a lot of it. So just watch out if you're sensitive to that

Also, go check out emberflamez! Just in general and please support their ask book! 

It was cold. Unnaturally cold. On the usually sticky summer day, Don woke up to a peculiar coolness in his room. Were his windows open? He coughed a little before noticing the rather loud slamming of raindrops. He looked outside the window closest to his bed. Sure enough, the rain blurred the normally clear city skyline. Ugh.

"I hate the rain," he muttered to himself. In actuality, he really didn't. It was normally his excuse for not going out, but in his current situation, going out was something that he didn't dread. Throwing himself back onto the bed, the boy carelessly played the message on his currently almost dead phone. At that exact moment, he heard a knock on his apartment door. Who in their right mind would talk to him this early?

"Hello, Don. It seems you and I have some talking to do. I'll be arriving at your apartment shortly, and you'd better answer, or this might be your ninth time,"

Don visibly lurched forward. Duni was at his door right now!

"SHIT!" he yelled, quickly standing up from his bed. For a split second, his vision went dark, but it quickly returned. He didn't bother with dressing up, instead of going straight to the bathroom.

"Don't keep me waiting," the Brit outside warned. By the time he was done washing up, it had been a full five minutes. He ran to his door, creaking it open slightly. He could see Duni, who was wearing his solid pale red shirt, standing outside. His stupid smile was something Don wished he could slap off his face.

"What the hell do you want with me?" Don growls, opening the door a little bit more. Duni places his hand on the edge of the door and yanks it open, causing the citrus haired male to trip and stumble.

"That's a very good question," Duni invites himself in, sauntering over to Don's kitchen table before sitting down in one of the two chairs. Don aptly sits in the second one. "Threatening you with your 'friend's' well being doesn't work, so I have to resort to other methods,"

"I'm sorry?" Don asked him. What other methods? Whatever it was, it wasn't going to convince him.

"This little 'secret' of ours can't possibly go on for too long. Would you mind telling me how it works?" What does he take him as?

"You've gotta be out of your fucking mind if you think I'll tell you," Don states. "Oh wait! You are," Duni giggles and ignores the comment towards his sanity.

"You've got to be out of yours to think you have a choice!" the paler male casually pulls out a switchblade, the blade fully showing, from his pocket. Don immediately feels his heart drop into his stomach. Duni starts to casually caress the blade. "I wonder what your throat would look like with a slit in it?" Oh fuck.

"I..um..." he doesn't know how to respond.

"So, start talking," his tone shifts from cheerful to serious on the last two words.

"I don't know how it works, but every time I die, one of my hats go missing," Don fesses up rather quickly. Duni ponders for a bit.

"You have what, twelve hats? Completely unnecessary," twelve hats was not unnecessary! They were all gifts from Richard and Dashlie (though, he's pretty sure they meant it as a joke).

"And you've died eight times..." the redhead quietly counts on his fingers. "So only four left. Oh well. I was hoping it wouldn't stop, but I could work with this. Tell you what. If you help me this one time and break out of the cycle, I'll burn your contract," Burn his contract? Only his? But what about the others? What about his friend? He didn't want freedom if it meant the only two people who actually cared about him were still trapped. However, Duni continues.

"But if you don't and you die on the last day, I'll burn Richard and Dashlie's," That son of a...

"What if I don't? What if I don't help you and still live?" he asked.

"That's not an option, Don. Don't you understand? You can finally have your freedom, or your friends can at the cost of your life. Don't you want that?" yes, he did. Don wanted control more than anything. He wanted to make his own decisions, wanted to live his own life. But with Duni and DDawn both towering over him and calculating every move, it would never happen. But he could end it. All it would cost would be his dignity and companionship. But on the other hand, was he willing to give up this chance to free the only people who ever showed him love? Was he willing to die for them?

"The clock is ticking, Don. You don't have all day," he needed to make a decision right now?!

"Wait, but you never said-"

"Time's up!" Duni reached over the table and pulled Don closer to him by the collar of his pajama shirt. After expertly twirling the switchblade in his hand, it went straight into Don's shoulder. He screamed as the blood seeped through. It was pain he had never felt before. Pain that he hoped he would never feel. It was like when he was on fire, but so much worse. This felt too familiar, but he couldn't think of anything that was similar to this. Any common sense was thrown out the window as Don desperately tried to get away. Duni pulled the knife out, the blood dripping from the blade as Don stumbled his way onto his kitchen floor.

"Why do you think I wore this shirt?" he asked. It became abundantly clear what was going on. The knife is driven into the clone's calves, the pale red blood spilling everywhere. His legs are then grabbed and dragged closer to Duni. He can feel the carpet's dust rubbing into the wounds in his legs as he's thrown rather violently against the wall. Since when was Duni this strong?

"I gave you an option, but you didn't take it," Duni smiles one more time before slamming the knife into Don's forehead. The shorter male can feel the blood oozing down his face and it's strangely sweet and metallic odor is burning. He's almost dead when Duni speaks up again.

"I'll see you in the next cycle,"

A/N

Another chapter done! If you recall from one of the earlier Season 2 episodes (I think it's the one with the Lycanthropy cure), I think we see a vat of clone blood. It's a pale red or peach-ish color, so I had Don have that color of blood. I don't have much else to say here, so bye, I guess?