For you, i will

chapter I

the los angeles air had begun to lose the sting of its heat by the time ryan arrived at the building. he made his way inside, knowing shane would arrive in a matter of minutes. he carried a bag on his back, in which he kept a rather large sack of salt, holy water, and a seraph blade...just incase things didn't go as planned; the thought made him shiver. he set the heavy bag by his feet, then took a look around the room, it's walls deteriorating and floors glossed with moss.
"hey ghouls, the bOyS aRe hERe~"
ryan jumped at the sound of shane's voice, turning around to see the taller man walking towards him, the same goofy smile on his face. his heart dropped, or perhaps it was the butterflies again. he decided to go with the former.
"hey shane, the cameramen should be here soon. they just texted." ryan felt bad for lying, but knew shane probably wouldn't hold it against him in the end.
"seems strange though, they're usually the first ones here."
"well, that's LA traffic for you."
ryan took a deep breath and closed his eyes, turning around to face shane again. he believed ghosts and demons, yes, but no way was shane actually one.
"so, i figured we should get started now, to have a quicker shoot once everyone arrives. can you set this over there?" ryan gestured at the bag of salt, and shane struggled to keep a straight face. why would ryan bring salt?
"sorry bergara, i hurt my back yesterday so i can't pick up anything too heavy."
ryan lifted an eyebrow as he eyed the camera shane was holding in his hands, it definitely wasn't light. but he refused to believe it meant anything serious.
"ok, take it easy then." ryan started, "don't want you to get hurt...just sit down on the floor, we're gonna summon some demons." ryan said with a smile.
shane thought for a moment.. "shouldn't we wait for the crew.. or at least the cameraman? what if something happens? we should catch it on camera." shane wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "for the show."
"we have our own gear, we can use that." ryan answered as he made his way over to the bag of salt, lifted it up, and began forming a circle around shane and himself.
shane was panicking, yet trying to remain calm in his voice.
"ryan you can't be serious.. how are we gonna catch the demons if they can't access us in here?" his voice had lost it's casual edge, but he still maintained it from shaking.
"it's just for protection. we can step in it if we need to, i made it as a precaution. both of us can go in and out.. unless of course, one of us is a demon." ryan let out a small laugh to make his remark seem a lighthearted joke.
as much as shane liked this man, right now he wished ryan would disappear. he tried to remain calm about it all, making jokes about how ryan was being a child, casually rolling his eyes to hide the fear behind them.
"calm down shane" ryan said after the last joke shane could think of. "it's just for the show. now get up and help me set this up."
shane didn't move. he was beginning to sweat frantically on his forehead, wiping it off quickly.
"my butt fell asleep ryan, and plus, i'm comfortable. i'll stay here so the gHoULs dOn'T gEt mE."
"come on shane, i need your help with the tripod."
shane closed his eyes, playing off his actions as a joke, then laid down in the circle, hands behind his head, and pretended to be asleep.
ryan was close to shaking, but noticing how the man had to bend his legs to keep them inside the circle made him smile. until he realized what it meant. shane couldn't leave its circumference.
"shane. get up."
shane opened one eye and looked up at ryan, who was standing above him. his height made shane feel intimidated. or maybe it was that ryan, for once, had the upper hand.
"ughhh, 5 more minutes mom" he joked
"seriously shane, you're scaring me."
the smile on shane's face melted. "scaring you? i'm just kidding ry calm down. why are you scared?"
"you.." ryan cut off, his eyes were now tearing up, hands shaking in fear, "you can't leave the circle, can you?"
"of course i can." shane sat up in his spot. this was gonna hurt. "see". he slowly moved his hand to the edge of where the salt was. his skin began to burn as he drew closer, but he took it and continued to move forward. his fingers began to shake, the skin turning red and blistering.
"stop. shane stop!" ryan stared at shane, frozen.
"ryan.." shane began. he had moved his hand away now, startled by ryan's sudden remark.
"god shane what was that."
"i.. can explain", shane began. he knew he couldn't play this off anymore. he had to tell ryan the truth. "i am not going to hurt you ryan. ever. i never was, i never will. please don't be scared of me. i swear to you on everything i'm not what you think."
ryan was slowly backing away from shane, the edges of his lips quivering, like he was in the verge of breaking down. he looked more scared than ever, the look on his face was different than before. shane didn't find it cute like he did when they hunted for ghosts, this time it made his heart sink. it was the look of hurt. the hurt you feel when you have been betrayed.
ryan was almost against the wall now, 15 feet away from shane, who couldn't move to comfort his friend, not that he would let him now. "this isn't true. this is a dream—a nightmare. tell me this isn't real shane! you're kidding. you're not being serious!"
"ryan please. i'm sorry.."
ryan began to make his way towards the exit.
"no ryan please don't leave. give me a chance to explain everything."
ryan gave one final look to shane, tears beginning to spill from the edges of his eyes. then he swiftly turned his body and ran out of the building, leaving shane alone and entrapped in the circle ryan had formed around him. shane placed his head between his knees, closing his eyes in defeat.
"ryan.."