This is my first attempt at angst so please be kind.
This was set during the great fire of London but I'm bending history around a bit and making the fire only one year after the end of the Great Plague of London.
There will be a dog in this called Allen, yes it is a real character from the D. Gray-man series. If you haven't yet, read chapter 166 basically it's about how Allen meets Mana, Mana has a dog named Allen and Allen (the white haired bishie Allen) was named after that dog.
Disclaimer: -man (c) Hoshino Katsura.
~ENJOY~
The already smog filled air of London was contaminated with ash and smoke. The city was ablaze in front of me, it's burning red flames contrasted greatly against the dark night sky. I ignored the screams and footsteps of the stampeding people around me desperately trying to escape the merciless flames.
Only a small while ago the country was in chaos from the epidemic fast spreading taking countless lives. People died so quickly, they would get the horrid disease one day then only a few days later they would have left this world, I only new him for a month before he fell to the same horrible fate that so many people before him had done.
They were all cruelly taken by the hands of death...
...including my angel...
--
-Flashback-
The streets were empty, the plague had hit hard and the majority of the population was either dead, dying or taking care of the dying. The streets were quiet. I turned down a small street parallel to the river, the street was lacking houses, small brick buildings were the only buildings along the small dirt road, and many of the doors had red crosses marked in blood showing that one of their residents had caught the horrible illness. A small shed was along the bank of the river, and looked like it would be under water if the river flooded.
I heard whispering sounds coming from the small shed and I walked over to the source of the noise.
An old man was bending over searching through a small rosemary bush near the shed. When he heard me coming he turned around quickly. I noticed that the old man was actually young; his features held a childish innocence and his large grey eyes full of sadness but also held a strange light. A small brown dog jumped up into his arms and the boy's attention darted towards it, he held the small dog and looked at me scared.
A law had been stated that all pets were to be killed as they were thought to be spreading the horrible disease.
The boy's eyes were wide and he held the dog tight, a small tear appeared in the corner of his eyes. "U-uh, p-please don't tell anyone about-" I could tell he was worried that I would take the dog away even though he didn't finish his sentence.
To calm him and show him he could trust me, I walked towards him and petted the small dog; it licked my hand and jumped up. The boy laughed lightly. "He's Allen."
"The dog?" I asked and he nodded. "And I'm Lavi." I said and shook the dog's paw. The boy laughed again, his laugh was sweet and melodic.
"I'm Allen." He said sweetly.
"Isn't that the dog?" I replied, confused.
"Yep, we're both Allen." He said laughing lightly smiling. His smile fell when we heard the death cart go by calling out to bring out the new deaths from overnight. After the depressing sound was gone, Allen smiled again but it didn't reach his eyes. "My father was one of the first people to die from the plague, Allen, the dog," He laughed lightly. "Allen is the only connection I still have with him, I don't know what I'd do if he'd been taken away."
"Oh, sorry."
"It's okay. It was years ago." Allen stood up and opened a backdoor into the shed. "This is were I live, it's out of the way but I guess that's kind of lucky since I'm away from everyone." he stopped in the doorway and turned back to me.
"I'm glad I found you Lavi, I was getting bored being so alone." He smiled and despite the heavy smog blocking the sun he seemed to radiate his own brightness.
That was the day I discovered my angel...
-Flashback over-
--
The air was hot; I was walking further towards the fire. There were bodies in the distance, those who hadn't realized the fire until it was too late. This was another merciless killing spree; god (1) had turned his back on us again.
Ashes were visible in the air now. The air was thin and my lungs were lacking air, but I kept walking...
...like my angel...
--
-Flashback-
"The death toll's reached sixty million." Allen sighed, he was lying on the small tattered bed reading the newspaper that had just got delivered, the brown dog lay at his feet and I sat leaning over him reading the article. Allen learnt to read only the basics by his father. "Miss Nancy died overnight."
I looked at him; his cheeks were stained with newly shed tears. "S-she was like a mother to me. S-she was so strong, I-I don't know why... "I held him tight, he cried into my thick jacket trying to muffle his sobs, but I still heard it though. He stopped crying and looked up at me, his eyes were bloodshot. "But I'll keep walking until my last breath, just like Mana told me."
...But we didn't know that my angel's last breath would only be a few days away.
-Flashback over-
--
I heard a dog bark in the distance, properly because its owner wasn't moving. My mind wandered back to the small dog my angel was named after.
...my angel's family...
--
-Flashback-
"Here Allen." I beckoned, playfully tapping my thighs.
The white haired boy turned around confused then sat on my thigh. "Yeah?"
I laughed. "I meant the dog." I said petting his head. Allen immediately realized his mistake and jumped off my leg, his wide eyes accompanied by a blush.
"S-sorry." He whispered.
"So why's he named after you?" I asked curiously.
"He's not named after me, I'm named after him." I looked confusedly at him. "I was adopted by Mana when was ten, Allen was already a year old when I came. Mana wasn't very creative and named me after him." He laughed that bright cheerful laugh that I loved.
We didn't know that the dog would die only a few days later...
...Just like my angel.
-Flashback over-
--
The black smoke blinded my eyes but I could make out a bulletin board through the smoke. One of the articles hadn't been taken down in over a year; it was one of the articles explaining plague symptoms.
...I remembered the day my angel showed those symptoms...
--
-Flashback-
In an attempt to heal plague victims or at least give them some freedom, the government allowed plagued citizens to have one hour of freedom outside daily. It was an attempt to get fresh air to their lungs, the smog didn't help.
It was seven at night, the time the ill people could walk freely. I was stuck at Allen's house because we lost track of time.
The small energetic dog couldn't take being kept up so long and he crawled out a hole in the shed and sped across the street. "ALLEN!" The white haired boy screamed dropping the pot in his hands, he quickly chased after the dog.
"Wait Allen! It's dangerous!" I yelled but he ignored me and kept chasing the brown dog. I stayed in the doorway. I could see Allen among the plagued civilians; he tripped, fell and was shoved aside by men and women. I could see his head was bleeding and he was in too much pain to stand.
I ran out, all the people had subsided or left, I ran to Allen. The small dog the boy had chased was now licking the limp boy's face. I picked him up gently. "Oowie." He joked, laughing. I stared down at him worried.
When we got back to his home I quickly dressed his head wound in bandages, but I started crying half way through. "Dammit Allen, that nearly gave me a heart attack." My head hung limp and he petted my head, smiling sincerely.
The next day when I visited him he was coughing profusely. I found buboes (2) on his neck, underarms and groin, showing the symptoms of bubonic plague. I knew his stunt the day before was deadly and now he was paying for it. I couldn't stop crying.
...That was how my angel fell sick...
-Flashback over-
--
I walked past many abandoned houses with doors marked with crosses. The sign of depression, the sign of death.
...I remembered the day someone painted one on my angel's door...
--
-Flashback-
I had been taking care of Allen for four days now. Allen tried his best to help me in anyway but some days he was bedridden. Today he had asked me to collect some water from the river to boil for drinking water.
I went down to the river, bucket in hand. I heard the Allen open the door back at the riverside shed. I could hear his conversation. "Ah, Good morning Sergent Cosimo." (3)
"Good morning Mr Walker." I heard the cocky officer say, his voice seemed muffled properly for wearing a mask over his face to save himself from disease. "I was just about to mark your...shed." Cosimo said with arrogance.
There was silence. "Is that a dog?" Cosimo said sounding angry.
"Please sergeant, don't!" I heard Allen cry. I dropped the bucket and ran up to the house, the entire time hearing pained yelps and whines from the dog and distressed cries from Allen. I slammed open the door startling the sergeant.
"GET OUT!" I screamed and pushed him out the door. I turned back to Allen. He was lying limply on the floor, his eyes wide and crying, he didn't turn away from the small blood stained bed. The body of Allen's only family. It was breathing but shallow, judging on the amount of blood around the dog, it wouldn't live for more then a few hours.
I petted the dog, placed a light kiss on its head. I picked it up and took it outside to rid it of its pain. I snapped the dog's neck and it died with one last loud yelp soon followed by a pained cry of Allen's. I went back inside and held Allen. We stayed hugging for an hour despite obvious dangers. "We'll hold a funeral for him later." I whispered to him and he nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes.
It was irony that the dog Allen died that day and the next my angel followed.
-Flashback over-
--
I was surrounded by flames now, either side of me was burning. I could see a few bodies in the streets and a few people trying to leave still. I stumbled and came face to face with one of the dead. I was crying now, the body was of a young boy around the age of Allen. It pained me to remember but my mind forced me to remember it...
...the day my angel left this world.
--
-Flashback-
It was said that it would take four to seven days for someone to die after contracting the deadly disease. Allen had caught it five days ago and I knew his time was near. He was bedridden and vomiting constantly even though his stomach had emptied, he was coughing up blood now. He had a terrible fever and headache, touching his forehead would burn my fingers.
"L-lavi." Allen forced out. I lifted my tear streaked face. "I-I'm sorry, I'm b-being a bur-den." He coughed.
"Allen don't worry your not burdening me. You'll be okay-"
"T-that's the thing L-lavi. I won't, I can tell, ...I-I'll b-be gone s-soon." He said through coughs.
I cried harder. "Don't say that Allen, don't" I cried against his chest.
He petted my head affectionately like I always did to him. "L-lavi." I looked up, he was smiling. "Thankyou, for everything...I love you." He whispered. He closed his beautiful grey eyes, never to be opened again.
I held his hand in a tight grip. "Me too." I whispered back, I sobbed against him.
...That was when my angel returned to heaven.
--
-Flashback over-
It was too hot now, my feet wouldn't move anymore. My knees gave in and I fell to the ground. Tears were streaming down my eyes and but I just stared into the distance, towards a small shed on the banks of the river. The place were I met my angel and then saw him pass away.
I smiled and let the burning flames engulf me.
"I'll be with you soon...my angel."
THE END
I needed a box of tissues next to me while writing this. T^T It's so sad.
Glossary:
1: I wrote god with a lower case 'g' because I'm an atheist and don't believe in gods. I felt the need to make a connection to religion in this fanfic though.
2: Buboes are large blisters that appear on you neck, underarms and groin when you get bubonic plague.
3: Cosimo is actually a real character from DGM. He was a clown at the circus where Allen met Mana. Cosimo was jealous of Mana and beat his dog (Allen) to death. Allen was then named after the dog.
Please review. I want to know if I failed at an angsty, sad fanfic.